MSO7048 - Post-medieval contour leat at Long Combe (Monument)

A contour leat on the north side of Long Combe, terminates at a field boundary in the west, but continues east into Larkbarrow estate. The width varies between 1.8 metres to 1 metre, with a depth of 0.3 metres. At SS 8136 4268 it cuts a quarry spoil mound. [1] It appears to join the water meadow system at Long Combe (MSO7028). [4] A water channel of a type known as a contour leat or gutter is visible on aerial photographs as an earthwork on the south facing slopes of Long Combe, roughly 250 metres to the south of Tom's Farm centred on circa SS 8132 4272. The gutter tapped Long Combe in the Larkbarrow estate to the east, where it formed part of an extensive water meadow system to the south of Larkbarrow Farm, before roughly following the 360 metre Ordnance Datum contour for over 500 metres, terminating at a spring fed stream at circa SS 8120 4291. Fed from a point approximately 30 metres to the northeast on from this same stream, a second gutter circa 450 metres long continues eastwards along the 360 metre Ordnance Datum contour, terminating at a field boundary to the west at circa SS 8082 4297. The leat probably functioned as a simple catchwork or field gutter system. Such catchwork systems are usually found on steep combe sides and are designed to irrigate pasture by diverting water from a spring or stream along the valley sides via one or more channels or gutters. When irrigation was required the gutters were blocked, causing water to overflow, 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 March and April. [5-7] This record was enhanced as part of the National Record of the Historic Environment to Exmoor National Park Historic Environment Record data transfer project. [8]