MMO2563 - Post-medieval water meadow north of Bryant's Cottages (Monument)

A post-medieval water meadow system, known locally as a catchwater meadow, is visible on aerial photographs as a series of earthworks in a field north of Bryant's Cottages, Carhampton. Centred at approximately SS 9784 4158 four gutters are visible located on a fairly gentle north facing slope between two unnamed streams. The gutters vary in length from 45 to 140 metres. This system appears to be connected to the yard at Bryant's Cottages, suggesting that this was an integrated system which also distributed liquid manure as fertiliser to the fields. 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. [1-3] This record was enhanced as part of the National Record of the Historic Environment to Exmoor National Park Historic Environment Record data transfer project. [4]