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Summary

A catch meadow of probable 19th century date is visible a series of earthwork ditches on aerial photographs of 1951, to the south of Waterhead House.

Location

Protected Status: none recorded

Other References/Statuses: none recorded

Monument Type(s) and Dates

• CATCH MEADOW (Early Medieval to Post Medieval - 1066 AD to 1750 AD)

Full description

Royal Air Force, 1951, RAF/58/680, RAF/58/680 RS 4103-04 15-MAY-1951 (Aerial Photograph). SDV351617.

The catch meadow is visible as a series of earthwork ditches.

Royal Air Force, 1959, RAF/58/3190 F22, RAF/58/3190 F22 064 31-AUG-1959 (Aerial Photograph). SDV352492.

The former catch meadow appears to have been levelled.

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

A catch meadow of probable 19th century date is visible as a series of earthwork ditches on aerial photographs of 1951, to the south of Waterhead House. 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. 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 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 catch meadow covers an area of approximately 0.10 hectares of northwest facing slope. The system comprises a series of two gutters which measure less than 2m in width and appear to tap a spring-fed stream that rises approximately 15m to the southeast. It is unclear from the aerial photographs alone with which farm this water meadow system might have been associated with. Not being directly linked to a farmstead it probably operated as a ‘detached’ system. The catch meadow appears to have been levelled on aerial photographs of 1959.

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
SDV351617	Aerial Photograph: Royal Air Force. 1951. RAF/58/680. Royal Air Force Aerial Photograph. Photograph (Paper). RAF/58/680 RS 4103-04 15-MAY-1951. [Mapped feature: #64602 ]
SDV352492	Aerial Photograph: Royal Air Force. 1959. RAF/58/3190 F22. Royal Air Force Aerial Photograph. Photograph (Paper). RAF/58/3190 F22 064 31-AUG-1959.

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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