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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 and as a series cropmark ditches on aerial photographs of 1966, to the southeast of Pileywell Farm.

Location

Protected Status

• SHINE: Cropmarks of catch meadow of probable 19th century date to south-east of Pileywell Farm

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 4336-37 04-NOV-1946 (Aerial Photograph). SDV356902.

The catch meadow is visible as a series of earthwork ditches. Map object based on this source.

Ordnance Survey, 1966, OS/66184 V, OS/66184 V 062-63 22-JUL-1966 (Aerial Photograph). SDV357044.

The former catch meadow is visible as a series of levelled cropmark ditches. Map object based on this source.

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 and as a series cropmark ditches on aerial photographs of 1966, to the southeast of Pileywell Farm. 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 2 hectares of southeast facing slope. The system comprises a series of gutters which measure less than 2m in width and which possibly tap a spring-fed stream that rises approximately 390m to the north at Chevithorne Farm or are fed from a northwest to southeast drain to the west of the system. 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 catch meadow gutters appear to have been completely levelled by 1966, although they remain partly visible as a series of cropmark ditches on aerial photographs of this time. Cropmarks associated with the former catch meadow are not visible after this date.

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 4336-37 04-NOV-1946.
SDV357044	Aerial Photograph: Ordnance Survey. 1966. OS/66184 V. Ordnance Survey. Photograph (Paper). OS/66184 V 062-63 22-JUL-1966.

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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