MMO2846 - 19th Century water meadow west of Stone Farm (Monument)

An extensive water meadow of probable 19th Century date, of a type known as a catch work or field gutter system, is visible on aerial photographs as earthworks to the west of Stone Farm at circa SS 8627 3879. 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. Approximately 30 gutters are visible at Stone covering an area of up to 20 hectares, cutting the line of several field boundaries, extant and relict. It is probable that more are present but not visible on the available aerial photographs. However, a difficulty exists in identifying the true extent of this system. There is clearly a close relationship and some interaction between the holdings of Stone and Prescott to the northwest and it is unclear from the photographs alone precisely where the division between the two water meadows lies. It is probable that the water meadows for both farms were laid out contemporaneously and there was almost certainly an element of cooperation required in the maintenance and operation of the systems. The extent of the system here identified with Stone is therefore somewhat arbitrary and based on the aerial evidence alone; further work is required to identify the true extent or the farm holdings. [1-6] This record was enhanced as part of the National Record of the Historic Environment to Exmoor National Park Historic Environment Record data transfer project. [7]