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HER Number: | MDV107990 |
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Name: | Catch Meadow at Moorhayes Farm |
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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 1947 at Moorhayes Farm, with which it was probably associated. The catch meadow gutters were not clearly visible after this date and may have been completely levelled.
Location
Grid Reference: | ST 042 082 |
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Map Sheet: | ST00NW |
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Admin Area | Devon |
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Civil Parish | Cullompton |
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District | Mid Devon |
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Ecclesiastical Parish | CULLOMPTON |
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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 RS, RAF/CPE/UK/1995 RS 4133-34 13-APR-1947 (Aerial Photograph). SDV356938.
The catch meadow is visible as a series of earthwork ditches.
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 1947 at Moorhayes Farm, with which it was probably associated. 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 0.45 hectares of gentle sloping ground to the immediate northeast of Moorhayes Farm. The system comprises a series of parallel gutters which measure less than 2m in width and appear to tap a stream to the south. A series of linear northwest to southeast aligned earthwork ditches are visible across the catch meadow gutters, although it is unclear how, or if these ditches are related to the catch meadow system. This water meadow might have operated as what has been called an ‘integrated’ catch meadow, in which manure from the cow sheds within the farmyard was mixed with the water supply to supply liquid manure to the pasture. The catch meadow gutters were not clearly visible on aerial photographs after 1947 and may 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. |
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| Linked documents:1 |
SDV356938 | Aerial Photograph: Royal Air Force. 1947. RAF/CPE/UK/1995 RS. Royal Air Force Aerial Photograph. Photograph (Paper). RAF/CPE/UK/1995 RS 4133-34 13-APR-1947. [Mapped feature: #67380 ] |
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Associated Monuments: none recorded
Associated Finds: none recorded
Associated Events
- EDV6530 - The East and Mid-Devon Rivers Catchment NMP project (Ref: ACD613)
Date Last Edited: | Feb 27 2019 11:49AM |
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