MMO2717 - Post-medieval water meadow southeast of Natsley Farm (Monument)

A post medieval water meadow system, known locally as a catchwater meadow, is visible on aerial photographs as a series of earthworks. This appears to have been an integrated system connected to the farmyard at Natsley.

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 south east of Natsley Farm, Brayford. Centred at approximately SS 7008 3798, up to eight gutters are visible, stretching across a southeast facing slope above a pair of unnamed streams. They cover at least four fields, and a total area of some 5.5 hectares. The gutters follow the contours of the slope almost exactly, and are apparently fed from the two springs at Natsley, as shown on the Ordnance Survey 1:10000 map. The springs flow through the farmyard at Natsley, 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. [1-4] This record was enhanced as part of the National Record of the Historic Environment to Exmoor National Park Historic Environment Record data transfer project. [5]