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Summary

Narrow curvilinear and in places roughly parallel ditches were visible on aerial photographs of 1946 on the west-facing slopes west of Lower Tale, Payhembury parish, south of the River Clyst. The ditches are possibly the remains of a catch meadow of 19th century date.

Location

Protected Status: none recorded

Other References/Statuses: none recorded

Monument Type(s) and Dates

• CATCH MEADOW (Post Medieval to XX - 1540 AD to 1946 AD? (Between))

Full description

Royal Air Force, 1946, RAF/CPE/UK/1823, RAF/CPE/UK/1823 RS 4235-4236 04-NOV-1946 (Aerial Photograph). SDV354994.

Six or seven curvilinear ditches or gutters were visible as earthworks.

Environment Agency, 1998-2014, LiDAR DTM data (1m resolution), LIDAR ST0602 Environment Agency DTM 01-JAN-1998 to 30-SEP-2014 (Cartographic). SDV359177.

A small propotion of the curvilinear ditches or gutters were 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, shallow and in places roughly parallel curvilinear ditches were visible on aerial photographs of 1946 as subtle earthworks over approximately 3 hectares of gentle west-facing slopes south of the River Clyst.
The ditches are tentatively interpreted as the gutters of a catch meadow irrigation system. Catch meadows were popular in the 19th century but many continued in use into the mid-20th century. No evidence of recent use was visible on the aerial photographs of November 1947 and the system might have been disused by this date, although catch meadows were typically operated in the spring.
The visible earthworks were probably supplied with water by two separate streams, and could have operated as two or more systems.
A small proportion of the possible gutters were identifiable as very slight earthworks on digital images derived from lidar data captured between 1998 and 2014, and most have probably been levelled.

Sources / Further Reading

SDV354994	Aerial Photograph: Royal Air Force. 1946. RAF/CPE/UK/1823. Royal Air Force Aerial Photograph. Photograph (Paper). RAF/CPE/UK/1823 RS 4235-4236 04-NOV-1946. [Mapped feature: #77609 ]
SDV359177	Cartographic: Environment Agency. 1998-2014. LiDAR DTM data (1m resolution). Environment Agency LiDAR data. Digital. LIDAR ST0602 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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