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Summary

A leat or simple catch meadow of probable 19th to early 20th century date is visible on aerial photographs of the 1940s and 1950s as a narrow curvilinear earthwork ditch on the west-facing slopes of a combe north of Brixton Barton, Shaugh Prior.
The earthwork remains identifiable as an earthwork on visualisations derived from lidar data captured between 1998 and 2017.

Location

Protected Status: none recorded

Other References/Statuses: none recorded

Monument Type(s) and Dates

• CATCH MEADOW (XVIII to XIX - 1800 AD? to 1880 AD (Between))
• LEAT (XVIII to XIX - 1800 AD? to 1880 AD (Between))

Full description

Ordnance Survey, 1880-1899, First Edition Ordnance 25 inch map (Cartographic). SDV336179.

The visible earthworks correspond with a water channel depicted on the Ordnance Survey 1880s First Edition 25inch map.

Royal Air Force, 1946, RAF/106G/UK/1190, RAF/106G/UK/1190 RP 3232-3233 27-FEB-1946 (Aerial Photograph). SDV363067.

A curvilinear ditch is visible as an earthwork.

Environment Agency, 1998-2017, LiDAR DTM data (1m resolution) EA: South Devon Coast to Dartmoor, LIDAR SX5460 Environment Agency DTM 01-JAN-1998 to 31-MAY-2017 (Cartographic). SDV361470.

A curvilinear ditch is idenfitiable as an earthwork.

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.

A curvilinear ditch is visible as an earthwork circa 3m wide and 270 long on aerial photographs of 1946, closely following the contours of the combe either north of Brixton Barton.
The ditch or channel probably tapped the spring-fed stream to the north and could have been used as a catch meadow. It also probably supplied water to Brixton Barton, including for use in a catch meadow to the south-west of the farmstead (MDV126517).
Such systems used springs or streams to irrigate combe slopes, rather than valley floors. Originating in the medieval period they were in widespread use in Devon in the 19th and early 20th centuries.
The visible earthwork corresponds with a water channel depicted on the Ordnance Survey 1880s 25inch First Edition map and therefore predates circa 1880.
The earthwork remains identifiable on visualisations derived from lidar data captured between 1998 and 2017. It has probably been adapted for use as a farm track, a curvilinear hollow branching from the ditch southwards towards Brixton Barton.

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments

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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