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Summary

A possible catch meadow of possible late-nineteenth or early-twentieth century date is visible on aerial photographs of the 1940s and 1950s as parallel earthwork ditches crossing the contours on the north-facing slopes overlooking the Teign at Old Teignharvey. Catch meadows are usually found on combe or hill slopes and are designed to irrigate pasture by diverting water from a spring or stream and passing it along the slope via a series of roughly parallel channels or gutters. When irrigation was required the gutters were blocked, causing water to overflow from gutter to gutter, thereby irrigating the slopes below.

Location

Protected Status: none recorded

Other References/Statuses: none recorded

Monument Type(s) and Dates

• CATCH MEADOW? (XIX to XX - 1801 AD to 1946 AD (Between))

Full description

Royal Air Force, 1946, RAF/CPE/UK/1824, RAF/CPE/UK/1824 3186-3187 4-NOV-1946 (Aerial Photograph). SDV352344.

Two linear earthwork gulleys or ditches are visible.

Royal Air Force, 1958, RAF/58/2549, RAF/58/2549/PSFO-P2-0258 27-AUG-1958 (Aerial Photograph). SDV351446.

Two linear earthwork gulleys or ditches are visible.

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

A possible catch meadow of possible late-nineteenth or early-twentieth century date is visible on aerial photographs of the 1940s and 1950s as two parallel earthwork ditches crossing the contours on the north-facing slopes overlooking the Teign at Old Teignworthy. The gutters appear to cut the low earthwork bank of a relict, possibly medieval field boundary. A broader earthwork ditch or gulley west of the line of a second former field boundary, as depicted on the First Edition Ordnance Survey map, might be a continuation of the watermeadow or evidence of a further, previously unrecorded former field boundary
Most catch meadow systems are believed to date to the post medieval period, although it is likely that they were first developed in the medieval period and many continued in use into the twentieth century. Catch meadows provided a simple, inexpensive and effective form of irrigation. When irrigation was required water was diverted from a source such as a pond, river, spring or spring-fed stream and passed along the meadow slopes via one or more of the gutters, which was then caused to overflow. The water source for this possible system is unidentified, but a pond might have been located immediately north-east of Old Teignharvey.
The lower, roughly parallel gutters then ‘caught’ and redistributed water passing it 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, particularly important during the hungry gap of the March and April.
The gutters are not visible as earthworks on later images available to the survey and might have been levelled.

Sources / Further Reading

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
SDV351446	Aerial Photograph: Royal Air Force. 1958. RAF/58/2549. Royal Air Force Aerial Photograph. Photograph (Paper). RAF/58/2549/PSFO-P2-0258 27-AUG-1958.
SDV352344	Aerial Photograph: Royal Air Force. 1946. RAF/CPE/UK/1824. Royal Air Force Aerial Photograph. Photograph (Paper). RAF/CPE/UK/1824 3186-3187 4-NOV-1946.

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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