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Summary

A possible simple catch meadow of probable post-medieval to 19th century date is visible on aerial photographs of the 1960s as very slight and narrow earthwork ditches on the gentle south-west facing slopes west of Tillhouse 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 (Post Medieval to XIX - 1540 AD to 1880 AD)

Full description

Devon County Council, 1838-1848, Tithe Mosaic, approximately 1838-1848 (Cartographic). SDV349431.

The gutter may have corresponded with a depicted field boundary.

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

The possibly associated field boundary is no longer depicted.

Royal Air Force, 1963, RAF/543/2332 2F22, RAF/543/2332 2F22 23-24 26-JUL-1963 (Aerial Photograph). SDV358398.

Curvilinear earthwork ditches are visible as earthworks.

Environment Agency, 1998-2012, LiDAR DSM data JPEG image (1m resolution), LIDAR SY0094 Environment Agency JPG DSM 19-Dec-2005 (Cartographic). SDV357034.

The curvilinear earthwork ditches are not visible.

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 post-medieval to 19th century date is visible on aerial photographs of the 1960s as very slight and narrow earthwork ditches on the gentle south-west facing slopes west of Tillhouse 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 catch meadow probably tapped a drain that ran along a field boundary from the north-west to south-west of the farm or a spring that rose within the farmstead itself. The gutters followed the contours of the slope curving to the south, and might have run along a former field boundary, depicted on the Tithe Map for Broadclyst but removed by the 1880s, the slight earthwork remains of which also remained visible. The possible gutters were probably partly levelled during the expansion of the farmstead to the south-west and the remainder were not visible on images derived from lidar data captured in 2005 and have probably been ploughed level

Sources / Further Reading

SDV336179	Cartographic: Ordnance Survey. 1880-1899. First Edition Ordnance 25 inch map. First Edition Ordnance Survey 25 inch Map. Map (Digital).
SDV349431	Cartographic: Devon County Council. 1838-1848. Tithe Mosaic, approximately 1838-1848. Digitised Tithe 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 SY0094 Environment Agency JPG DSM 19-Dec-2005.
SDV358398	Aerial Photograph: Royal Air Force. 1963. RAF/543/2332 2F22. Royal Air Force Aerial Photograph. Photograph (Paper). RAF/543/2332 2F22 23-24 26-JUL-1963. [Mapped feature: #71776 ]

Associated Monuments: none recorded

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events

• EDV6530 - The East and Mid-Devon Rivers Catchment NMP project (Ref: ACD613)
• EDV4887 - Assessment Two Areas of Highway to the East of Exeter
• EDV4910 - A Programme of Archaeological Assessment and Evaluation between Blue Hayes and Southbrook, East Devon

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