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Summary

A possible catch meadow of probable post-medieval to 20th century date was visible on aerial photographs of the 1940s as narrow curvilinear and linear earthwork ditches on the combe slopes to the south-west of Higher Rodway Farm, Stockland 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 XXI - 1540 AD to 2014 AD (Between))
• DRAIN? (XIX to XX - 1801 AD to 1947 AD (Between))

Full description

Royal Air Force, 1947, RAF/CPE/UK/1974, RAF/CPE/UK/1974 RP 4311-4312 11-APR-1947 (Aerial Photograph). SDV356127.

Curvilinear narrow ditches were visible as earthworks. Map object based partly on this source.

Environment Agency, 1998-2014, LiDAR DTM data (1m resolution), LIDAR ST2303-ST2403 Environment Agency DTM 01-JAN-1998 to 30-SEP-2014 (Cartographic). SDV359177.

Curvilinear ditches remained visible as slight earthworks. Map object based partly on this source.

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 catch meadow of probable post-medieval to 20th century date was visible on aerial photographs of the 1940s as narrow curvilinear and linear earthwork ditches on both sides of the combe slopes to the south-west of Higher Rodway Farm, Stockland 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. Any 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 effect of flowing water was visible on the south-west facing slopes on aerial photographs of April 1947, which might support the interpretation that the catch meadow was in use at this date. The ditch or gutter on the north-east facing slope appeared to be dry at this point which might indicate that this element had passed out of use, potentially belonged to a different holding or was simply not scheduled for use at that particular time; exploitation of water sources for irrigation between holdings was closely controlled. The arrangement of the east-facing gutter indicated it was made to tap the stream that flowed along the combe at its northern end. The water source for the gutters on the east-facing slopes was not apparent from the aerial photographs or historic maps available to the survey but was probably a spring in the vicinity of the farmstead. The earthworks on this side of the stream included a very linear ditch that crossed the contours laterally, probably cutting the curvilinear ditches before branching on the lower slopes; these may be later additions to the system that combined irrigation and drainage functions.
The possible gutters were not visible as earthworks on any more recent aerial photographs available to the survey but were identifiable from digital images derived from lidar data, indicating that the possible gutters survive as very slight earthworks.

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 RP 4311-4312 11-APR-1947.
SDV359177	Cartographic: Environment Agency. 1998-2014. LiDAR DTM data (1m resolution). Environment Agency LiDAR data. Digital. LIDAR ST2303-ST2403 Environment Agency DTM 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

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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