See important guidance on the use of this record.

If you have any comments or new information about this record, please email us.

Summary

A catch meadow of probable 19th century date is visible as a series of earthwork ditches on aerial photographs of 1946 onwards, to the southeast of Knightshayes Lodge.

Location

Protected Status

• Registered Park or Garden (II*) 1000487: KNIGHTSHAYES COURT

Other References/Statuses: none recorded

Monument Type(s) and Dates

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

Full description

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

A drain which appears to be related to the catch meadow system is depicted on the First Edition Ordnance Survey map of between the 1880’s-90’s.

Royal Air Force, 1946, RAF/3G/TUD/UK/221 V, RAF/3G/TUD/UK/221 V 5400-01 11-JUL-1946 (Aerial Photograph). SDV357046.

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

Ordnance Survey, 1966, OS/66184 V, OS/66184 V 059-60 22-JUL-1966 (Aerial Photograph). SDV357044.

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

Environment Agency, 1998-2012, LiDAR DSM data JPEG image (1m resolution), LIDAR SS9614 Environment Agency JPEG DSM 19-DEC-2005 - 16-FEB-2012 (Cartographic). SDV357034.

The linear drain remains visible as an earthwork ditch.

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, to the southeast of Knightshayes Lodge. 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 2.06 hectares of southwest 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 at the northern extent of the system. A northeast to southwest aligned drain, which possibly taps this spring and utilises a natural stream channel seems to be associated with this 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 remains visible as a series of earthwork ditches on aerial photographs of 1966, although appear to be completely levelled after this date. The linear drain within the natural channel appears to remain visible as an earthwork ditch on digital images derived from Lidar data captured between 2005 and 2012.

Sources / Further Reading

SDV336179	Cartographic: Ordnance Survey. 1880-1899. First Edition Ordnance 25 inch map. First Edition Ordnance Survey 25 inch Map. Map (Digital).
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
SDV357034	Cartographic: Environment Agency. 1998-2012. LiDAR DSM data JPEG image (1m resolution). Environment Agency LiDAR data. Digital. LIDAR SS9614 Environment Agency JPEG DSM 19-DEC-2005 - 16-FEB-2012.
SDV357044	Aerial Photograph: Ordnance Survey. 1966. OS/66184 V. Ordnance Survey. Photograph (Paper). OS/66184 V 059-60 22-JUL-1966. [Mapped feature: #67965 ]
SDV357046	Aerial Photograph: Royal Air Force. 1946. RAF/3G/TUD/UK/221 V. Royal Air Force Aerial Photograph. Photograph (Paper). RAF/3G/TUD/UK/221 V 5400-01 11-JUL-1946.

Associated Monuments: none recorded

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events

• EDV6530 - The East and Mid-Devon Rivers Catchment NMP project (Ref: ACD613)
• EDV4435 - A Historic Landscape Assessment of the Setting of Knightshayes Park and Garden

Search results generated by the HBSMR Gateway from exeGesIS SDM Ltd.