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Summary

The presence of a simple catch meadow on the west--facing slope of a combe on the eastern edge of Hense Moor, Luppit parish, was inferred from aerial photographs of 1947. No earthworks were visible and any present might survive as a subtle earthwork.

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))

Full description

Royal Air Force, 1947, RAF/CPE/UK/1974, RAF/CPE/UK/1974 RS 2303-2304 11-APR-1947 (Aerial Photograph). SDV356127.

Water can be seen to darken the higher slopes of the combe.

Ordnance Survey, 2016, MasterMap (Cartographic). SDV359352.

Springs are marked rising to the north and south of the possible catch meadow.

Hegarty, C. + Knight, S. + Sims, R., 2016-2018, The Blackdown Hills AONB and East Devon River Catchments National Mapping Programme Project (Interpretation). SDV359463.

The presence of a simple catch meadow on the west--facing slope of a combe on the eastern edge of Hense Moor, Luppit parish, was inferred from aerial photographs of 1947.
Catch meadows are usually found on combe or hill slopes. 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 narrow ditches known as gutters. The topmost gutter was blocked in the desired location, causing water to overflow, and then be ‘caught’ and redistributed by the lower, roughly parallel gutters, 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.
No earthworks were visible in this instance, the presence of a simple catch meadow inferred from the visible effects of water flowing down the combe slope in April 1947. It was common to combine the function of the top gutter or headmain with that of a field boundary ditch, limiting it from view from the air, which might be the case here. The system could have been supplied with water from springs rising immediately to the north or south. The condition of the possible headmain is unknown but might survive as a subtle earthwork.

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 RS 2303-2304 11-APR-1947. [Mapped feature: #3454 ]
SDV359352	Cartographic: Ordnance Survey. 2016. MasterMap. Ordnance Survey Digital Mapping. Digital.
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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