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Summary

A catch meadow of probable post-medieval to 19th century date is visible on aerial photographs of 1946 as curvilinear earthwork ditches following the contours of the north- facing combe slopes to the north of the A3121 between Well Cross and Ware Cross.
The ditches remain identifiable as slight earthworks on visualisations derived from lidar data captured in 2013

Location

Protected Status: none recorded

Other References/Statuses

• Old DCC SMR Ref: SX65NE/352

Monument Type(s) and Dates

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

Full description

Untitled Source (Migrated Record). SDV177316.

Des=pollard, t.(sh coast + countryside service)/(26/5/2000)/pers comm to amd.

Pollard, S. H. M., Untitled Source (Migrated Record). SDV96893.

Vis=26/5/2000 (pollard) the 4 fields between ware farm and well cross, running parallel to and n of the road, form a water meadow system. Leats + pond (now a garage) visible (pollard).

Royal Air Force, 1946, RAF/CPE/UK/1890, Devon County Council RAF/CPE/UK/1890 RP 3170-3171 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 SX6855 Tellus DTM 01-JUL-2013 to 31-AUG-2013 (Cartographic). SDV361514.

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.

Five curvilinear ditches are visible on aerial photographs of 1946 as earthworks circa 2m to 4m wide and up to 310m long, roughly parallel and spaced circa 12m to 35m apart, closely following the contours of the north facing combe slope between Well Cross and Ware Cross.
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.
The visible earthworks do not correspond with any ditches depicted on the 19th or early 20th century maps available to the survey. This might support the interpretation that the water meadow had fallen out of regular use by the late-19th century.
The gutters probably had a functional relationship with a smaller catch meadow circa 100m to the north-west (MDV128092), due to the requirements of managing a shared water source.
The gutters remain visible as earthworks 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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