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Summary

An extensive catch meadow of probable post-medieval to 19th century date is visible on aerial photographs of 1946 as narrow curvilinear earthwork ditches on the south-facing combe slopes south-east of Langford Barton. Most appear to have since been levelled but one ditch possibly survives as a slight earthwork to be identifiable on lidar derived visualisations.

Location

Protected Status

• Scheduled Monument 1021376: Ringwork and bailey castle 400m south of Langford Barton

Other References/Statuses: none recorded

Monument Type(s) and Dates

• CATCH MEADOW (Post Medieval to XIX - 1540 AD to 1900 AD (Between))

Full description

Royal Air Force, 1946, RAF/CPE/UK/1890, Devon County Council RAF/CPE/UK/1890 RP 3173-3174 10-DEC-1946 (Aerial Photograph). SDV169268.

Curvilinear ditches are visible as earthworks

NERC, 2013, LiDAR DTM data (1m resolution) Tellus: South Devon to Dartmoor, LIDAR SX6956-SX7056 Tellus DTM 01-JUL-2013 to 31-AUG-2013 (Cartographic). SDV361514.

One ditch might survive as a subtle earthwork at SX699567.

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.

Approximately 10 roughly parallel curvilinear ditches are visible on aerial photographs of 1946 as earthworks roughly 20m apart, circa 2 to 3m wide and up to 400m long, closely following the contours of the south-facing slope south-east of Langford Barton over an area of circa 4ha.
The channels are interpreted as the remains of a catch meadow potentially of post-medieval to 19th century date.
Catch meadows abstracted from springs or streams and redistributed it along channels or gutters to irrigate combe slopes. Probably originating in the medieval period, they were in widespread use in Devon from the 19th to early 20th century.
No ditches are depicted in this location on the available historic maps and any watermeadow in this location is likely to have fallen out of regular use by the late-19th century.
Most of the guttera appear to have since been levelled but one ditch possibly survives as a slight earthwork to be identifiable on visualisations derived from lidar data captured in 2013.

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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