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Summary

A catch meadow of probable nineteenth or twentieth century date is visible on aerial photographs of the 1940s onwards as parallel earthwork ditches following the contours of a gentle north facing combe slope, between Aller Farm and the former Lower Southwood Farm, Dawlish.
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

• SHINE: Earthwork ditches of a 19th or 20th century catch meadow system, site of 19th century farm building and traditional farm buildings at Aller Farm

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/106G/UK/1412, RAF/106G/UK/1412 3014-3015 13-APR-1946 (Aerial Photograph). SDV352504.

The gutters of a catchmeadow are visible as curvilinear earthwork ditches.

Royal Air Force, 1946, RAF/CPE/UK/1824, RAF/CPE/UK/1824 RP 4080-4081 04-NOV-1946 (Aerial Photograph). SDV352344.

Curvilinear ditches are visible as earthworks.

Griffith, F. M., 1985, DAP/FG, DAP 5499/01 18-JUL-1985 (FG) (Aerial Photograph). SDV341808.

Curvilinear ditches are visible as earthworks.

Ordnance Survey, 1986, OS/86217, OS/86217 012-013 22-SEP-1986 (Aerial Photograph). SDV354645.

The earthworks have been largely levelled.

Environment Agency, 1998-2017, LiDAR DTM data (1m resolution) EA: South Devon Coast to Dartmoor, LIDAR SX9476 Environment Agency DTM 01-JAN-1998 to 31-MAY-2017 (Cartographic). SDV361470.

Curvilinear ditches are visible as earthworks.

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 nineteenth or twentieth century date is visible on aerial photographs of the 1940s onwards as parallel earthwork ditches following the contours of a gentle north facing combe slope between Aller Farm and the former Lower Southwood Farm, Dawlish.
Many 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 often 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 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. In this instance the system tapped the stream which rises to the west and flows west to east along the combe. It is not possible to be certain with which farm the water meadow is associated from the aerial photographs alone. It is likely that the top gutter or ‘head main’ ran along the field boundary to the south of the catch meadow, its presence inferred from water flowing downslope as the water meadow was in use, visible on aerial photographs of April 1946. However, the gutter itself is visible as an earthwork only at the very western end of the water meadow. The gutters appear to have been largely levelled by 1986.

Hegarty, C., Knight, S. and Sims, R., 2018-2019, The South Devon Coast to Dartmoor Aerial Investigation and Mapping Survey. Area 1, Haldon Ridge to Dart Valley (Interpretation). SDV361305.

Curvilinear ditches are identifiable on aerial photographs of 1946. The earthworks are roughly parallel, less than 3m wide and spaced up to circa 30m apart, closely following the contours over nearly 7ha of combe slope. They vary in length but measure up to circa 450m long.
The larger ditches remain visible as earthworks on digital images derived from lidar data captured between 1998 and 2017 and appear to cut features interpreted as the remains of field boundaries of probable medieval to post-medieval date.
The earthworks are interpreted as the remains of a catch meadow, a form of water meadow irrigation most popular in the 19th and early 20th centuries but which originated in the medieval period. Three narrower gutters visible at circa SX94647611 as more subtle earthworks above the more substantial gutter may be evidence of the original extent of the irrigation system.

Sources / Further Reading

SDV341808	Aerial Photograph: Griffith, F. M.. 1985. DAP/FG. Devon Aerial Photograph. Photograph (Paper). DAP 5499/01 18-JUL-1985 (FG).
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
SDV352344	Aerial Photograph: Royal Air Force. 1946. RAF/CPE/UK/1824. Royal Air Force Aerial Photograph. Photograph (Paper). RAF/CPE/UK/1824 RP 4080-4081 04-NOV-1946.
SDV352504	Aerial Photograph: Royal Air Force. 1946. RAF/106G/UK/1412. Royal Air Force Aerial Photograph. Photograph (Paper). RAF/106G/UK/1412 3014-3015 13-APR-1946. [Mapped feature: #64924 ]
SDV354645	Aerial Photograph: Ordnance Survey. 1986. OS/86217. Ordnance Survey. Photograph (Paper). OS/86217 012-013 22-SEP-1986.
SDV361305	Interpretation: Hegarty, C., Knight, S. and Sims, R.. 2018-2019. The South Devon Coast to Dartmoor Aerial Investigation and Mapping Survey. Area 1, Haldon Ridge to Dart Valley. Historic England Research Report. Digital.
	Linked documents:1
SDV361470	Cartographic: Environment Agency. 1998-2017. LiDAR DTM data (1m resolution) EA: South Devon Coast to Dartmoor. Environment Agency LiDAR data. Digital. LIDAR SX9476 Environment Agency DTM 01-JAN-1998 to 31-MAY-2017.

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)
• EDV7515 - The South Devon Coast to Dartmoor Aerial Investigation and Mapping (formerly NMP) Survey (Ref: ACD1748)

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