See important guidance on the use of this record.

If you have any comments or new information about this record, please email us.

Summary

The remains of a water-meadow of probable post-medieval date is visible on aerial photographs between 1945 and 1951 as a series of earthwork ditches to the south of South Battisborough. Slight earthworks may survive.

Location

Protected Status: none recorded

Other References/Statuses: none recorded

Monument Type(s) and Dates

• WATER MEADOW (Post Medieval to XIX - 1540 AD to 1900 AD (Between))

Full description

Royal Air Force, 1945, RAF/106G/UK/967, RAF/106G/UK/967 RS 3114-3115 01-NOV-1945 (Aerial Photograph). SDV351060.

Water meadow gutters are visible as earthwork ditches.

Royal Air Force, 1951, RAF/540/497, NMR RAF/540/497 4071-4072 12-MAY-1951 (Aerial Photograph). SDV351212.

The gutters are clearly visible as earthworks.

Next Perspectives, 2007, Pan Government Agreement Aerial Photographs, Next Perspectives PGA Imagery SX5847 03-MAY-2007 (Aerial Photograph). SDV350196.

The gutters of the southern part of this watermeadow system are visible as dark cropmarks or slight earthworks.

Hegarty, C. + Knight, S. + Sims, R., 2013-2014, South Devon Coast Rapid Coastal Zone Assessment Survey National Mapping Programme Project (Interpretation). SDV351146.

A post medieval water meadow, known locally as a catchwater meadow system, is visible on aerial photographs between 1945 and 2007 as a series of earthwork ditches to the south of South Battisborough, with which it was probably associated.
Catch meadows provided a simple, inexpensive but effective form of irrigation, designed to irrigate pasture by diverting water from a spring or stream along the slope via a series of roughly parallel channels or gutters. A larger gutter, often called a headmain, tapped water from a source such as a river, spring or spring-fed stream. When irrigation was required the headmain was dammed, causing water to overflow downslope, where the roughly parallel gutters distributed the flowing water evenly over the surface of a meadow below. The gently flowing water prevented the ground freezing in winter and encouraged early growth in spring, thereby providing extra feed for livestock. Most catchwater meadow systems are believed to date to the post medieval period, although it is possible that they were first developed in the medieval period.
The South Battisborough catch meadow covers a visible area of approximately 6 hectares of east- and west-facing slope below the farmstead. The main source of water is likely to have been a spring north of the farmstead so it is likely that the system partly operated as an ‘integrated’ catch meadow, in which manure from cattle sheds within the farmyard is mixed with the water supply to supply liquid manure to the pasture.
Some of the southernmost gutters remain visible as dark cropmarks on aerial photographs taken in 2007, and slight earthworks may survive.

Sources / Further Reading

SDV350196	Aerial Photograph: Next Perspectives. 2007. Pan Government Agreement Aerial Photographs. Pan Government Agreement Aerial Photographs. Digital. Next Perspectives PGA Imagery SX5847 03-MAY-2007.
SDV351060	Aerial Photograph: Royal Air Force. 1945. RAF/106G/UK/967. Royal Air Force Aerial Photograph. Photograph (Paper). RAF/106G/UK/967 RS 3114-3115 01-NOV-1945. [Mapped feature: #63516 ]
SDV351146	Interpretation: Hegarty, C. + Knight, S. + Sims, R.. 2013-2014. South Devon Coast Rapid Coastal Zone Assessment Survey National Mapping Programme Project. AC Archaeology Report. Digital.
	Linked documents:1
SDV351212	Aerial Photograph: Royal Air Force. 1951. RAF/540/497. Royal Air Force Aerial Photograph. Photograph (Paper). NMR RAF/540/497 4071-4072 12-MAY-1951.

Associated Monuments: none recorded

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events

• EDV6127 - Rapid Coastal Zone Assessment Survey National Mapping Programme (NMP) for South-West England - South Coast Devon (Ref: ACD618)

Search results generated by the HBSMR Gateway from exeGesIS SDM Ltd.