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Summary

A possible simple catch meadow of probable nineteenth or early twentieth century date was visible on aerial photographs of the 1940s as a narrow earthwork ditch on the slopes of a combe to the north-west of Washbeerhayes Farm.
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: none recorded

Other References/Statuses: none recorded

Monument Type(s) and Dates

• CATCH MEADOW (XIX to XX - 1801 AD to 1946 AD (Between))

Full description

Ordnance Survey, 1880-1899, First Edition Ordnance 25 inch map (Cartographic). SDV336179.

A field boundary might coincide with a catch meadow gutter.

Royal Air Force, 1946, RAF/CPE/UK/1823 RS, RAF/CPE/UK/1823 RS 4242-4243 04-NOV-1946 (Aerial Photograph). SDV356902.

Curvilinear earthwork ditches were visible.

BKS Surveys Ltd, 1967, BKS/2822, BKS/2822 V 2938-2939 14-MAR-1967 (Aerial Photograph). SDV354836.

Curvilinear earthwork ditches were visible. Map object based partly on this source.

Next Perspectives, 2010, Aerial Photography for Great Britain, Next Perspectives PGA Imagery ST0102 22-MAY-2010 (Aerial Photograph). SDV356259.

Curvilinear earthwork ditches were visible. Map object based partly on this source.

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

A possible simple catch meadow of probable nineteenth or early twentieth century date was visible on aerial photographs of the 1940s as a narrow earthwork ditch circa 340 metres long on the combe slopes to the north-west of Washbeerhayes Farm.
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 channel, or gutter, probably tapped the stream that flowed along the combe, a tributary of the River Culm, at circa ST01230235. It is likely that a second gutter ran along the line of a former field boundary, roughly 15 metres downslope, but this was visible only as a wider earthwork ditch, probably now visible as part of the ditch created by the removal of the field boundary in the late 19th or early 20th century. The gutter earthworks remained visible on digital images derived from aerial photographs taken in 2010.

Sources / Further Reading

SDV336179	Cartographic: Ordnance Survey. 1880-1899. First Edition Ordnance 25 inch map. First Edition Ordnance Survey 25 inch Map. Map (Digital).
SDV354836	Aerial Photograph: BKS Surveys Ltd. 1967. BKS/2822. BKS Surveys Ltd. Photograph (Paper). BKS/2822 V 2938-2939 14-MAR-1967.
SDV356259	Aerial Photograph: Next Perspectives. 2010. Aerial Photography for Great Britain. Aerial Photography for Great Britain Aerial Photographs. Digital. Next Perspectives PGA Imagery ST0102 22-MAY-2010.
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 4242-4243 04-NOV-1946.

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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