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HER Number: | MDV115005 |
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Name: | Former Catch Meadow South of Combe Raleigh |
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Summary
A possible simple catch meadow of probable post-medieval to 20th century date was visible on aerial photographs of the 1940s as a narrow curvilinear earthwork ditch on the south-east facing slopes on the southern edge of Combe Raleigh.
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
Grid Reference: | ST 158 022 |
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Map Sheet: | ST10SE |
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Admin Area | Devon |
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Civil Parish | Combe Raleigh |
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District | East Devon |
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Ecclesiastical Parish | COMBE RALEIGH |
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Protected Status: none recorded
Other References/Statuses: none recorded
Monument Type(s) and Dates
- CATCH MEADOW (Post Medieval to XX - 1540 AD to 1947 AD (Between))
Full description
Royal Air Force, 1947, RAF/CPE/UK/1974, RAF/CPE/UK/1974 F20 3443-3444 11-APR-1947 (Aerial Photograph). SDV356127.
A narrow curvilinear ditch was visible.
Hegarty, C. + Knight, S. + Sims, R., 2016-2018, The Blackdown Hills AONB and East Devon River Catchments National Mapping Programme Project (Interpretation). SDV359463.
A possible simple catch meadow of probable post-medieval to 20th century date was visible on aerial photographs of the 1940s as a narrow curvilinear earthwork ditch on the south-east facing slopes on the southern edge of Combe Raleigh.
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. The gutter was probably supplied with water from a stream that flows to the south-east, and could be seen in use on aerial photographs of April 1947. The gutter was not identifiable as an earthwork on digital images derived from aerial photographs of 2014, or digital images derived from lidar data, and has probably been levelled.
Sources / Further Reading
SDV356127 | Aerial Photograph: Royal Air Force. 1947. RAF/CPE/UK/1974. Royal Air Force Aerial Photograph. Photograph (Paper). RAF/CPE/UK/1974 F20 3443-3444 11-APR-1947. [Mapped feature: #74326 ] |
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SDV359463 | Interpretation: Hegarty, C. + Knight, S. + Sims, R.. 2016-2018. The Blackdown Hills AONB and East Devon River Catchments National Mapping Programme Project. Historic England Research Report. Digital. |
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| Linked documents:2 |
Associated Monuments: none recorded
Associated Finds: none recorded
Associated Events
- EDV7508 - The Blackdown Hills AONB and East Devon River Catchments National Mapping Programme (NMP) project (Ref: ACD1228)
Date Last Edited: | Mar 20 2018 12:50PM |
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