MMO2992 - Post-medieval water meadow at Lower Thorne Farm (Monument)

A water meadow of post-medieval date is visible as parallel earthwork channels to the south and east of Lower Thorne. They form a type of water meadow known variously as a catchwork, ditch gutter or field gutter system.

A simple water meadow of post-medieval date is visible on aerial photographs as parallel earthwork channels to the south and east of Lower Thorne, at circa SS 8442 3826. It is of a type known as a catch work, ditch gutter or field gutter system, which are typically found on combe or hill slopes. They are designed to irrigate pasture by diverting water from a spring or stream along the slope via the 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 from March to April. It was probably supplied with water from a spring to the northwest of Lower Thorne. Gutters appear to pass though the farmstead and this may be an example of an integrated system, where manure was mixed with the water and distributed on the slopes. The gutters cannot be cleary seen on aerial photographs of 1976, and may have been damaged or levelled by modern agricultural improvements. [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]