MMO2073 - Possible post-medieval water meadow west of Higher Week Farm (Monument)

A probable post medieval leat or water channel is visible on aerial photographs as an earthwork. It most likely represents the remains of a catchwater meadow, which may have been connected to the farmyard at Higher Week.

A probable post-medieval leat or water channel is visible on aerial photographs as an earthwork in a field to the west of Higher Week farm, Kentisbury. Centred at approximately SS 6284 4317, the leat runs approximately east to west along the contours of a west facing slope for approximately 50 metres. It measures up to 1.5 metres wide. This leat most likely represents the remains of a water meadow system (known locally as a catchwater meadow) which used a series of approximately parallel gutters to distribute flowing water evenly over the surface of the meadow. This prevented the ground freezing in winter and encouraged early growth in spring, thereby providing extra feed for livestock. It is not clear whether this gutter was ever connected to the farmyard at Higher Week, but it may well have been an integrated system which also distributed liquid manure as fertiliser to the fields. Several other ditches and leats in the area may have been part of the same system. [1-3] This record was enhanced as part of the National Record of the Historic Environment to Exmoor National Park Historic Environment Record data transfer project. [4]