MMO2983 - Post-medieval water meadow south of Hill Farm (Monument)

A catchwork water meadow system is visible on aerial photographs as earthworks to the south of Hill Farm, with which it is probably associated. It was probably fed by a spring originating to the southeast of the farm.

A water meadow of probable post-medieval date, of a type known as a catchwork, ditch gutter or field gutter system is visible on aerial photographs as earthworks to the south of Hill Farm with which it is probably associated. The system is only fragmentally visible but appears to consist of 2 to 4 gutters centred on circa SS 8360 3987, on the south facing slopes above the River Exe. The gutters were probably fed by a spring which rises to the southeast of the farm. It is likely that further gutters may be present but are not visible on the available aerial photographs clearly enough to be transcribed. Such water meadows are typically found on combe or hill slopes and are designed to irrigate pasture by diverting water from a spring or stream along the slope via a series of roughly parallel channels or gutters. When irrigation was required the gutters were blocked, causing water to overflow from gutter to gutter, 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. [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]