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Summary

The earthwork remains of a catch meadow of probable post-medieval to early twentieth century date were visible on aerial photographs of the 1940s onwards as narrow ditches on the south and east-facing combe slopes of the Exe Valley, to the west of Up Exe. 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. The catch meadow gutters have probably mostly been levelled.

Location

Protected Status: none recorded

Other References/Statuses: none recorded

Monument Type(s) and Dates

• CATCH MEADOW (Post Medieval to XX - 1540 AD to 1946 AD (Between))

Full description

Royal Air Force, 1946, RAF/CPE/UK/1823 RS, RAF/CPE/UK/1823 RS 4178-4179 04-NOV-1946 (Aerial Photograph). SDV356902.

Curvilinear ditches are visible as earthworks.

Devon County Council, 1984, DAP 3519, DAP 3519/08 03-JUL-1984 (AW) (Aerial Photograph). SDV358009.

Curvilinear ditches are visible as earthworks.

Ordnance Survey, 1989, OS/89162, OS/89162 V 676-677 08-MAY-1989 (Aerial Photograph). SDV356894.

Curvilinear ditches remain visible as earthworks.

Environment Agency, 2005-2012, LiDAR DTM data JPEG image (1m resolution), LIDAR SS9302 Environment Agency JPEG DTM 2005-2012 (Cartographic). SDV357033.

Curvilinear ditches are visible as slight earthworks.

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

The earthwork remains of a catch meadow of probable post-medieval to early twentieth century date were visible on aerial photographs of the 1940s onwards as narrow ditches on the south and east-facing combe slopes of the Exe Valley, to the west of Up Exe.
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 March and April.
It is probable that the system was supplied with water from a spring that rises to the east, just to the south of Courthayes Lane. The gutters remain visible as slight earthworks on images derived from lidar data acquired between 2005 and 2012.

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
SDV356894	Aerial Photograph: Ordnance Survey. 1989. OS/89162. Ordnance Survey. Photograph (Paper). OS/89162 V 676-677 08-MAY-1989.
SDV356902	Aerial Photograph: Royal Air Force. 1946. RAF/CPE/UK/1823 RS. Royal Air Force Aerial Photograph. Photograph (Paper). RAF/CPE/UK/1823 RS 4178-4179 04-NOV-1946. [Mapped feature: #70050 ]
SDV357033	Cartographic: Environment Agency. 2005-2012. LiDAR DTM data JPEG image (1m resolution). Environment Agency LiDAR data. Digital. LIDAR SS9302 Environment Agency JPEG DTM 2005-2012.
SDV358009	Aerial Photograph: Devon County Council. 1984. DAP 3519. Devon Aerial Photograph. Photograph (Paper). DAP 3519/08 03-JUL-1984 (AW).

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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