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Summary

A possible simple catch meadow was visible on aerial photographs of 1947 as a narrow ditch or gutter on the south-east-facing slopes below Luppitt Inn Farm, Luppitt. The ditch has probably been levelled.
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 (XVIII to XX - 1800 AD to 1947 AD (Between))

Full description

Royal Air Force, 1947, RAF/CPE/UK/1974, RAF/CPE/UK/1974 RS 4300-4301 11-APR-1947 (Aerial Photograph). SDV356127.

A curvilinear earthwork ditch was visible, highlighted by water marking on the slopes below.

Next Perspectives, 2010, Aerial Photography for Great Britain, Next Perspectives APGB Imagery ST1606 4-MAY-2010 (Aerial Photograph). SDV359490.

The ditch was not identifiable as an earthwork.

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

A single narrow ditch or gutter approximately 150 metres long was visible on aerial photographs of 1947 overflowing with water on the south-facing slopes below Lambert’s Farm, Luppitt. The ditch is interpreted as evidence of a simple catch meadow of probable 19th to 20th century date.
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 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 in a controlled manner. 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.
Surface water marking indicate that this gutter had recently been used, or was currently in use in April 1947. The water source could not be identified from the aerial photographs or the maps available to the survey, but the position of the gutter could indicate a source such as a pond or spring originating in the vicinity of Lambert’s Farm.
Catch meadow gutters typically closely follow the contours in an almost level course to ensure control over where the water is made to overflow. In this instance the ditch crosses the contours at an oblique angle. This might indicate a local variation or non-specialist construction.
The earthwork could not be confidently identified as an earthwork on digital images derived from aerial photographs of 2010 and might have 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 RS 4300-4301 11-APR-1947. [Mapped feature: #76057 ]
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
SDV359490	Aerial Photograph: Next Perspectives. 2010. Aerial Photography for Great Britain. Aerial Photography for Great Britain Aerial Photographs. Digital. Next Perspectives APGB Imagery ST1606 4-MAY-2010.

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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