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Summary

A catch meadow of probable post-medieval to 19th century date is visible on aerial photographs of the 1940s as narrow curvilinear earthwork ditches following the contours of a north-east facing combe slope to the north of Alston Farm and east facing slopes to the south. The ditches remain partly identifiable as subtle earthworks on visualisations derived from lidar data captured in 2013.

Location

Protected Status: none recorded

Other References/Statuses: none recorded

Monument Type(s) and Dates

• CATCH MEADOW (Post Medieval to World War II - 1540 AD to 1945 AD (Between))

Full description

Royal Air Force, 1945, RAF/106G/UK/967, RAF/106G/UK/967 RS 4130-4131 01-NOV-1945 (Aerial Photograph). SDV351060.

Curvilinear ditches are visible as earthworks.

Royal Air Force, 1946, RAF/CPE/UK/1890, Devon County Council RAF/CPE/UK/1890 4037-4038 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 SX7140 Tellus DTM 01-JUL-2013 to 31-AUG-2013 (Cartographic). SDV361514.

Curvilinear ditches are visible as earthworks.

Google, 2019, Google Earth Pro, EARTH.GOOGLE.COM 24-MAR-2020 ACCESSED 10-AUG-2020 (Aerial Photograph). SDV363088.

Curvilinear ditches are identifiable as earthworks.

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.

Curvilinear narrow ditches are visible on aerial photographs of 1945 and 1946 as subtle earthworks under pasture, measuring up to circa 2.5m wide and up to 165m long, closely following the contours of the north-east facing combe to the north of Alston Farm.
The channels are probably the remains of catch meadow gutters of post-medieval to 19th century date.
Catch meadows diverted water from springs or streams along channels, or gutters, to redistribute it to irrigate combe slopes. Originating probably in the medieval period they were in widespread use in Devon in the 19th century with many in use into the mid-20th century.
The ditches immediately to the north-west and south of the farm remain identifiable as subtle earthworks on visualisations derived from lidar data captured in 2013 while those to the west and north-east have probably been levelled, the latter by the construction of a caravan park.

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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