MMO2103 - Post-medieval water meadow north of Highley Farm (Monument)

A post-medieval water meadow system is visible on aerial photographs as a series of earthworks. This system does not appear to be connected to any local farmyards, suggesting that this was a detached system.

A post-medieval water meadow system, known locally as a catchwater meadow, is visible on aerial photographs as a series of earthworks in fields to the east of the A39 in Parracombe. Centred at approximately SS 6781 4422, four gutters are visible located on a fairly gentle west facing slope above the River Heddon. The gutters vary in length from 20 to 70 metres, and are between 1 and 2 metres wide. The gutters have been cut by a 20th Century trackway or footpath which has been constructed through the field, and must have been constructed after 1904, since it does not appear on the 2nd Edition Ordnance Survey map. This system does not appear to be connected to any local farmyards, suggesting that this was a detached system which only distributed water to the fields and not liquid manure or other fertilisers. Catchwater meadows used a series of approximately parallel gutters to distribute flowing water evenly over the surface of the meadow in order to prevent freezing in winter and encourage early growth in spring, thereby providing extra feed for livestock. Most catchwater meadows are believed to date to the post-medieval period, although it is possible that they were first developed in the medieval period. [1-4] These features were also mapped as part of an air photo mapping and interpretation project as part of study of the medieval and post medieval landscape around Parracombe. [5,6] This record was enhanced as part of the National Record of the Historic Environment to Exmoor National Park Historic Environment Record data transfer project. [7]