MSO8583 - 19th Century water meadow at Great Ash Farm (Monument)

A post-medieval water meadow system at Great Ash is visible on aerial photographs. [1-2] A water meadow of probable 19th Century date is visible on aerial photographs to the south of Great Ash Farm, with which it may is probably associated. The gutters are visible extending to the east and west along the slopes above the Winn Brook, covering an area of approximately 19 hectares. It is centred at SS 8751 3525, extends as far west as Little Ash and as far east as SS 8829 3528. The presence of some gutters is inferred from flooding visible on photographs taken in the 1940s. Bank defined boundaries in the fields immediately to the southwest of the farm buildings may be parts of the system, or could be former field boundaries. A sinuous bank defined boundary in the field to the south east seems to relate to the field gutters. This is a type of water meadow known as catchwork or field-gutter system, commonly found on combe or hill slopes and designed to irrigate pasture by diverting water from a spring or stream. The water is carried along the valley sides via one or more channels or gutters and 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 March and April. The system probably taps the Winn Brook for water. Two gutters, marked on the 1st Edition Ordnance Survey map of 1889, may also be situated to take advantage of spring fed tributaries feeding the Winn Brook from the south. The map evidence also confirms that the system had been constructed prior to 1889. [3-7] 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]