MMO1794 - 19th Century water meadow southwest of Home Farm (Monument)

A post-medieval catchwork or catch meadow system can be seen as a series of roughly parallel ditches or channels on aerial photographs, on a north facing valley. It appears to be a detached system and probably dates to the 19th Century.

A post-medieval water meadow of a type known locally as a catchwork or catch meadow system is visible on aerial photographs OF 1947 onwards as at least 3 water channels radiating onto a north facing valley to the west Fellingscott Farm, Oare parish. The water channels, also known as gutters, are centred on circa SS 7972 4926 and cover an area of almost 0.5 hectares. Catchwork systems are usually found on steep combe sides and are designed to irrigate pasture by diverting water from a spring or stream along the valley sides via a series of channels or gutters. This water meadow system was probably fed from a spring to the west called Sister's Fountain. When irrigation was required the gutters were blocked, causing water to overflow, thereby irrigating the slopes. This film of water prevented the ground freezing during the winter and raised the temperature of the grass in the spring, thereby encouraging early growth, particularly important during the hungry gap of the March and April. Any excess water then returned to the feeder stream at the valley bottom. The use of a series of roughly parallel gutters to improve the coverage, as seen here, is a common feature of Exmoor systems. This system is probably an example of a `detached system', where the water supply for the water meadow does not pass through a farmstead, and only distributes what liquid manure was carried to it. Although similar systems were operating elsewhere by the 17th Century, this water meadow is probably 19th Century or later in origin. As can be seen on 1947 photographs, other water meadows in this area continued in use well into the 20th Century. At the time of survey this water meadow remains visible on the the latest images visible on Google Earth, but these may be replaced in the future. [1-5] This record was enhanced as part of the National Record of the Historic Environment to Exmoor National Park Historic Environment Record data transfer project. [6]