MMO2982 - Post-medieval water meadow south of Westermill Farm (Monument)

A water meadow of probable post-medieval date, of a type known as a catch work, ditch gutter or field gutter system is visible on aerial photographs as earthworks to the south of Westermill Farm with which it is probably associated. The system is transcribed as three gutters centred on circa SS 8229 3973, descending the north facing slope to the south of the farm, although in this instance it is likely that further gutters may be present but are not clearly visible enough on the available aerial photographs to be transcribed. 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. A section of the highest gutter is depicted on the 1st Edition Ordnance Survey map, indicating that the system probably predates 1889. The gutters are not clearly visible on any aerial photographs after 1946, and may have been levelled. [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]