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Summary

A possible catch meadow of probable 19th century date is visible as a series of cropmark ditches on aerial photographs of 1947, to the south of Shepherd’s Moor.

Location

Protected Status: none recorded

Other References/Statuses: none recorded

Monument Type(s) and Dates

• CATCH MEADOW (Post Medieval to Modern - 1540 AD to 2013 AD (Between))

Full description

Royal Air Force, 1947, RAF/CPE/UK/1995 RP, RAF/CPE/UK/1995 RP 3125-26 13-APR-1947 (Aerial Photograph). SDV356899.

The possible catch meadow is visible as a series of cropmark ditches.

Hegarty, C. + Knight, S. + Sims, R., 2014-2015, East and Mid Devon River Catchments National Mapping Programme Project (Interpretation). SDV356883.

A possible catch meadow of probable 19th century date is visible as a series of cropmark ditches on aerial photographs of 1947, to the south of Shepherd’s Moor. 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 March and April. The catch meadow covers an area of approximately 0.81 hectares of north facing slope, which is slightly counter to the northeast to southwest alignment of the gutters. The system comprises a series of gutters which measure less than 2m in width and appear to tap a spring-fed stream that rises approximately 120m to the southwest. 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 slightly dubious catch meadow was only visible as possible cropmark ditches on aerial photographs of 1947 and, as such, is likely to have been completely levelled.

Sources / Further Reading

SDV356883	Interpretation: Hegarty, C. + Knight, S. + Sims, R.. 2014-2015. East and Mid Devon River Catchments National Mapping Programme Project. AC Archaeology Report. Digital.
	Linked documents:1
SDV356899	Aerial Photograph: Royal Air Force. 1947. RAF/CPE/UK/1995 RP. Royal Air Force Aerial Photograph. Photograph (Paper). RAF/CPE/UK/1995 RP 3125-26 13-APR-1947. [Mapped feature: #66919 ]

Associated Monuments: none recorded

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events

• EDV6530 - The East and Mid-Devon Rivers Catchment NMP project (Ref: ACD613)

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