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Summary

A possible simple catch meadow of probable 19th century date was visible on aerial photographs of 1947 as a narrow earthwork ditch or gutter on west-facing slope below Bycott Farm, Dunkeswell parish. The ditch has probably been levelled.

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 2301 11-APR-1947 (Aerial Photograph). SDV356127.

A curvilinear ditch was visible as a narrow earthwork.

Next Perspectives, 2014, Aerial Photography for Great Britain, Next Perspectives APGB Imagery ST1508 08-SEP-2014 (Aerial Photograph). SDV359479.

The ditch or gutter was not visible as an earthwork and has probably been levelled.

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

A pond is depicted immediately west of Bycott Farm, Dunkeswell parish.

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

A narrow curvilinear ditch was visible as an earthwork on aerial photographs of 1947 on the west-facing slope below Bycott Farm, Dunkeswell parish.
The earthwork is interpreted as the possible gutter of a catch meadow of probable 19th to 20th century date. Surface water marking indicates that this gutter had recently been used, or was currently in use in April 1947.
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, usually found on combe or hill slopes. 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.
In this instance it is unclear from the map evidence exactly where the water was abstracted from for irrigation purposes, but a pond depicted adjacent to Bycott Farm on the current Ordnance Survey MasterMap base map supports the interpretation that a viable water supply, such as a spring, was probably available in this location.
The ditch cannot be seen as an earthwork on digital images derived from aerial photographs of 2014 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 RS 2301 11-APR-1947. [Mapped feature: #76133 ]
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
SDV359479	Aerial Photograph: Next Perspectives. 2014. Aerial Photography for Great Britain. Digital. Next Perspectives APGB Imagery ST1508 08-SEP-2014.

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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