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Summary

An earthwork ditch, interpreted as a section of a post-medieval water-meadow, is visible on aerial photographs between 1946 and 2007. Earthwork remains are likely to survive.

Location

Protected Status

• Registered Park or Garden (II) 1000692: FLETE

Other References/Statuses: none recorded

Monument Type(s) and Dates

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

Full description

Ordnance Survey, 1904 - 1906, Second Edition Ordnance Survey 25 inch Map (Cartographic). SDV325644.

No gutters are depicted in this location.

Royal Air Force, 1946, RAF/CPE/UK/1890, RAF/CPE/UK/1890 FP 2105-2106 10-DEC-1946 (Aerial Photograph). SDV351061.

Water meadow gutters are visible as earthwork ditches. Map object based on this source.

Next Perspectives, 2007, Pan Government Agreement Aerial Photographs, Next Perspectives PGA Imagery SX6251 03-MAY-2007 (Aerial Photograph). SDV350196.

Traces of the gutters are visible as dark cropmarks. Map object based on this source.

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

Part of a possible post-medieval water meadow, known locally as a catchwater meadow system, is visible on aerial photographs between 1946 and 2012 as an interrupted earthwork ditch to the north and west of Flete.
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 possible catch meadow north-west of Flete consists of just one interrupted field gutter on a south-facing slope, apparently fed from a springline at circa SX6225451774. It is visible as a dark linear cropmarks on aerial photographs taken in 2007, and slight earthworks may survive.

Sources / Further Reading

SDV325644	Cartographic: Ordnance Survey. 1904 - 1906. Second Edition Ordnance Survey 25 inch Map. Second Edition Ordnance Survey 25 inch Map. Map (Digital).
SDV350196	Aerial Photograph: Next Perspectives. 2007. Pan Government Agreement Aerial Photographs. Pan Government Agreement Aerial Photographs. Digital. Next Perspectives PGA Imagery SX6251 03-MAY-2007.
SDV351061	Aerial Photograph: Royal Air Force. 1946. RAF/CPE/UK/1890. Royal Air Force Aerial Photograph. Photograph (Paper). RAF/CPE/UK/1890 FP 2105-2106 10-DEC-1946.
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

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)

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