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Summary

Earthwork ditches visible on aerial photographs of the 1940s to the south-east of Kitlake might be evidence of former water meadow gutters or removed field boundaries of medieval to post-medieval date.

Location

Protected Status: none recorded

Other References/Statuses: none recorded

Monument Type(s) and Dates

• CATCH MEADOW? (Early Medieval to XIX - 1066 AD to 1840 AD)
• FIELD BOUNDARY? (Post Medieval to XIX - 1540 AD to 1840 AD (Between))

Full description

Royal Air Force, 1946, RAF/CPE/UK/1823, RAF/CPE/UK/1823 RP 3260-3261 04-NOV-1946 (Aerial Photograph). SDV354994.

Linear earthwork ditches were visible.

Hegarty, C. + Knight, S. + Sims, R., 2014-2015, East and Mid Devon River Catchments National Mapping Programme Project (Interpretation). SDV356883.

Earthwork ditches are visible on east-facing slopes to the south-east of Kitlake on aerial photographs of 1946. The ditches are mostly between 2 and 3 metres wide and although slightly irregular in plan tend to follow the course of the contours. The ditches might be evidence of former catch meadow gutters used to irrigate the slopes with water diverted from a spring that rises at Kitlake. The lower of the two ditches might also be evidence for the removal of a former field boundary; the earthwork does not correspond with any features depicted on the Tithe map for Thorverton but does appear to be aligned upon boundaries extant in the 1940s at both visible ends. It could therefore be evidence of a boundary of medieval date that was removed prior to circa 1840. On hill farms of this period it was not uncommon for field boundary ditches to be integrated into irrigation systems and it is therefore possible this ditch was both a catch meadow gutter and field boundary ditch. The ditch appears to have been levelled.

Sources / Further Reading

SDV354994	Aerial Photograph: Royal Air Force. 1946. RAF/CPE/UK/1823. Royal Air Force Aerial Photograph. Photograph (Paper). RAF/CPE/UK/1823 RP 3260-3261 04-NOV-1946. [Mapped feature: #69957 ]
SDV356883	Interpretation: Hegarty, C. + Knight, S. + Sims, R.. 2014-2015. East and Mid Devon River Catchments National Mapping Programme Project. AC Archaeology Report. Digital.
	Linked documents:1

Associated Monuments: none recorded

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events

• EDV6530 - The East and Mid-Devon Rivers Catchment NMP project (Ref: ACD613)

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