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Summary

Narrow curvilinear ditches or water channels were visible on aerial photographs of the 1940s on the south-west facing slopes south of Combehayes Farm, Buckerell parish. The ditches might be the remains of a simple catch meadow of probable 19th century date.

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 RP 3449-3450 11-APR-1947 (Aerial Photograph). SDV356127.

Narrow and irregularly shaped earthwork ditches were visible.

Next Perspectives, 2010, Aerial Photography for Great Britain, Next Perspectives APGB Imagery ST1101 22-MAY-2010 (Aerial Photograph). SDV356259.

The ditches were not 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.

Narrow curvilinear ditches up to circa 160 metres long were visible on aerial photographs of 1947 as earthworks on the south-west facing slopes south of Combehayes Farm, Buckerell parish.
The effect of water flowing downslope from the ditches or channels can be seen on the aerial photographs of April 1947. This might support an interpretation of the ditches as gutters of a simple catch meadow irrigation system, as it was in the ‘hungry gap’ of the spring months that such systems were most often used. Catch meadows were popular in the 19th century but many continued in use into the mid-20th century. The ditches are not visible on digital images derived from aerial photographs of 2010 and have probably been levelled, partly by the expansion of the farmyard.

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 3449-3450 11-APR-1947. [Mapped feature: #77072 ]
SDV356259	Aerial Photograph: Next Perspectives. 2010. Aerial Photography for Great Britain. Aerial Photography for Great Britain Aerial Photographs. Digital. Next Perspectives APGB Imagery ST1101 22-MAY-2010.
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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