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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 narrow curvilinear earthwork ditches on the south facing slopes south of Woodhayes Farm, Luppitt parish.
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 XX - 1540 AD to 1947 AD (Between))
• DRAIN? (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 2443-2444 11-APR-1947 (Aerial Photograph). SDV356127.

Narrow and shallow earthwork ditches were visible, overflowing with water.

Ordnance Survey, 1982, OS/82218 V, OS/82218 V 1153-1154 28-AUG-1982 (Aerial Photograph). SDV359504.

Ditches on the lower slopes of the combe remained visible as earthworks.

Environment Agency, 1998-2014, LiDAR DTM data (1m resolution), LIDAR ST1702 Environment Agency DSM 01-JAN-1998 to 30-SEP-2014 (Cartographic). SDV359177.

A number of ditches remained visible as earthworks.

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 narrow curvilinear earthwork ditches on the south facing slopes south of Woodhayes Farm, Luppitt parish.
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.
A water source could not be identified for this possible catch meadow. The ditches are also less regularly laid out that is typical for a catch meadow, not conforming to the contours of the combe. Nonetheless, water was visible flowing downslope from the possible gutters on aerial photographs of 1947. It is possible that the irregular ditches were located to exploit water sources such as springs rising on the valley slopes above the River Otter. Alternatively, they might be irregularly cut drainage ditches.
The ditches remain partly visible as earthworks on digital images derived from lidar data.

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 2443-2444 11-APR-1947. [Mapped feature: #74346 ]
SDV359177	Cartographic: Environment Agency. 1998-2014. LiDAR DTM data (1m resolution). Environment Agency LiDAR data. Digital. LIDAR ST1702 Environment Agency DSM 01-JAN-1998 to 30-SEP-2014.
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.
	Linked documents:2
SDV359504	Aerial Photograph: Ordnance Survey. 1982. OS/82218 V. Ordnance Survey. Photograph (Paper). OS/82218 V 1153-1154 28-AUG-1982.

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)

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