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Summary

Extensive catchwork water meadows, also known locally as catch meadows, are visible on aerial photographs of 1946 as narrow, roughly parallel curvilinear earthwork ditches following the contours of the combe slopes between Haredon Cross and Bowbombe Quarry. Of probable post-medieval to 19th century date, the ditches are partly marked on the Ordnance Survey 1880s 25inch First Edition map. Some of the ditches survive as eroded and subtle earthworks to be identifiable on visualisations derived from lidar data captured in 2013.

Location

Protected Status

• Listed Building (II) 1107373: BUTTERWELL IMMEDIATELY NORTH-WEST OF HAREDON FARMHOUSE

Other References/Statuses

• Old DCC SMR Ref: SX65NE/288

Monument Type(s) and Dates

• CATCH MEADOW (Post Medieval to XIX - 1540 AD to 1880 AD (Between))
• (Former Type) WATER MEADOW (XIX - 1801 AD to 1900 AD (Between))

Full description

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

A series of at least six leats are shown on 19th century map running northeast to southwest through the fields between Haredon and the Bowcombe farmsteads. Some of the leats have sluices marked.

Ordnance Survey, 1904 - 1906, Second Edition Ordnance Survey 25 inch Map (Cartographic). SDV325644.

Leats and sluices shown as 'Sl' on early 20th century map.

Royal Air Force, 1946, RAF/CPE/UK/1890, Devon County Council RAF/CPE/UK/1890 FS 2193-2194 10-DEC-1946 (Aerial Photograph). SDV169268.

Linear and curvilinear parallel ditches are visible as earthworks.

Turton, S. D. + Weddell, P. J., 1989, An Archaeological Assessment of the South Devon Spine Main (Roborough to Littlehempston), 6 (Report - Assessment). SDV138026.

The pipeline cuts through between SX67235531 and SX67675540.

Goodyear, R. I., 1990, Place Name (Worksheet). SDV219.

Parsonage Lane/Haredon Cross. Man-made watercourses with sluices.

Bluesky International Ltd/Getmapping PLC, 1999-2017, Pan Government Agreement Aerial Photographs, Next Perspectives APGB Imagery SX6655-SX6755 18-JUN-1999 (Aerial Photograph). SDV363087.

Linear and curvilinear parallel ditches are visible as earthworks.

Cotswold Archaeology, 2001, Fishacre to Lyneham Natural Gas Pipeline: Archaeological Fieldwalking and Field Reconnaissance Survey: Preliminary Summary, Map 8 (Report - Survey). SDV340217.

Cotswold Archaeology, 2001, Fishacre to Lyneham Natural Gas Pipeline: Cultural Heritage Assessment: Volume 1:Text, 21 (Report - Assessment). SDV340215.

Other details: Site 120.

Cotswold Archaeology, 2001, Fishacre to Lyneham Natural Gas Pipeline: Cultural Heritage Assessment: Volume 2: Constraints Maps (Report - Assessment). SDV340216.

Other details: Map 8 Site 120.

NERC, 2013, LiDAR DTM data (1m resolution) Tellus: South Devon to Dartmoor, LIDAR SX6654-SX6754, SX6655-SX6755 Tellus DTM 01-JUL-2013 to 31-AUG-2013 (Cartographic). SDV361514.

Linear and curvilinear parallel ditches are identifiable as earthworks.

Google, 2019, Google Earth Pro, EARTH.GOOGLE.COM 09-OCT-2018 ACCESSED 16-MAR-2020 (Aerial Photograph). SDV363088.

Linear and curvilinear parallel ditches are visible 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.

Numerous roughly parallel curvilinear ditches are visible on aerial photographs of 1946 as earthworks closely following the contours of a south-west to north-east aligned combe and its tributaries between Ugborough village and Ludbrooke Farm. The ditches are most clearly visible extending over an area of approximately 18ha between Haredon Cross and Bowbombe Quarry,
The channels, typically 2m to 3m wide and ranging from circa 60m to circa 500m long, are interpreted as the remains of catch meadows 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.
The extensive catch meadows probably included several ditches depicted on the Ordnance Survey 1880s 25inch First Edition map. However, due to the area covered and the multiple water sources involved, it is unlikely that all the ditches recorded here operated as a single system. Their operation was probably interconnected and carefully managed but it is likely that some systems fell out of regular use and, by the late-19th century, some elements remained in use simply as drainage ditches or leats.
Some gutters were no longer identifiable as earthworks on digital images derived from aerial photographs of 1999, whilst others remain identifiable as much eroded and subtle earthworks on visualisations derived from lidar data captured in 2013.

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments: none recorded

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events

• EDV4375 - Fishacre to Lyneham Pipeline Assessment
• EDV4391 - Fishacre to Lyneham Fieldwalking Survey
• 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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