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Summary

A catch meadow of probable 19th century date is visible as a series of earthwork ditches on aerial photographs of 1946 onwards, at Little Henbeer Wood.

Location

Protected Status

• SHINE: Earthwork ditches of catch meadows of probable 19th century date to north of Exeland

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, 1946, RAF/CPE/UK/1823 RS, RAF/CPE/UK/1823 RS 4316-17 04-NOV-1946 (Aerial Photograph). SDV356902.

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

Next Perspectives, 2006, Pan Government Agreement Aerial Photograph, Next Perspectives PGA Imagery SS9508 24-JUL-2006 (Aerial Photograph). SDV356945.

A single earthwork ditch of the former catch meadow remains visible.

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

A catch meadow of probable 19th century date is visible as a series of earthwork ditches on aerial photographs of 1946 onwards, at Little Henbeer Wood. 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 fragmented catch meadow covers an area of approximately 0.70 hectares of north and northwest facing slope. 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 130m 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. A single earthwork ditch of the former catch meadow remains visible on digital images derived from aerial photographs taken in 2006.

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
SDV356902	Aerial Photograph: Royal Air Force. 1946. RAF/CPE/UK/1823 RS. Royal Air Force Aerial Photograph. Photograph (Paper). RAF/CPE/UK/1823 RS 4316-17 04-NOV-1946. [Mapped feature: #66933 ]
SDV356945	Aerial Photograph: Next Perspectives. 2006. Pan Government Agreement Aerial Photograph. Pan Government Agreement Aerial Photographs. Digital. Next Perspectives PGA Imagery SS9508 24-JUL-2006.

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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