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Summary

A catch meadow of probable 19th to early 20th century date is visible on aerial photographs of 1946 onwards and visualisations derived from lidar data captured between 1998 and 2017 as parallel curvilinear earthwork ditches following the contours of the south and south-west facing slopes south of Elfordleigh Hotel.

Location

Protected Status: none recorded

Other References/Statuses: none recorded

Monument Type(s) and Dates

• CATCH MEADOW (Post Medieval to Mid 20th Century - 1540 AD to 1946 AD)

Full description

Royal Air Force, 1946, RAF/106G/UK/1190, RAF/106G/UK/1190 RP 3229-3230 27-FEB-1946 (Aerial Photograph). SDV363067.

Curvilinear ditches are visible as earthworks.

Royal Air Force, 1955, RAF/540/1625, RAF/540/1625 F22 243-244 24-MAY-1955 (Aerial Photograph). SDV351141.

Curvilinear ditches are visible as earthworks.

Environment Agency, 1998-2017, LiDAR DTM data (1m resolution) EA: South Devon Coast to Dartmoor, LIDAR SX5458 Environment Agency DTM 01-JAN-1998 to 31-MAY-2017 (Cartographic). SDV361470.

Curvilinear ditches are identifiable as earthworks.

Google, 2019, Google Earth Pro, EARTH.GOOGLE.COM 08-AUG-2015 ACCESSED 17-SEP-2019 (Aerial Photograph). SDV363088.

Curvilinear ditches are visible as earthworks and cropmarks.

Hegarty, C., Knight, S. and Sims, R., 2019-2020, The South Devon Coast to Dartmoor Aerial Investigation and Mapping Survey. Area 2, Avon Valley to Plymouth (AI&M, formerly NMP) (Interpretation). SDV362982.

Several curvilinear ditches are visible on aerial photographs of 1946 onwards as parallel earthworks circa 3 to 4m wide, 25 to 35m apart and potentially up to circa 350m long, following the contours of the south and south-west facing combe slopes..
The channels are probably the components of a former catch meadow of post-medieval to early 20th century date, known as gutters. Such systems used springs or streams to irrigate the pasture of combe slopes, rather than the valley floor. Originating in the medieval period they were in widespread use in Devon in the 19th and early 20th centuries.
Aerial photographs reveal the gutters to have been damaged and interrupted by landscaping associated with a golf course by 1946, but otherwise to be reasonably intact. The catch meadow system had therefore been out of use for some time by this date.
The gutters remain clearly visible as earthworks and cropmarks on subsequent aerial photographs and remain identifiable as earthworks on visualisations derived from lidar data captured between 1998 and 2017, albeit with further damage from golf course landscaping.
Although within the area of the catch meadow and on the same alignment, two narrower and more closely spaced ditches centred on circa SX54545842, are possibly the remains of a former field boundary of medieval date.

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments: none recorded

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events

• EDV8098 - The South Devon Coast to Dartmoor Aerial Investigation and Mapping (formerly NMP) Survey, Area 2, Avon Valley to Plymouth (Ref: ACD2040)

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