MMO3007 - Post-medieval water meadow south of Hillway Farm (Monument)

A water meadow of probable post-medieval date can be seen on aerial photographs of the 1940s, as earthworks on the south facing valley slopes overlooking the River Barle to the south of Hillway Farm, centred on circa SS 8275 3617. It is probably of a type known as a catchwork, ditch gutter or field gutter system. Catchworks were designed to irrigate pasture by diverting water from a spring or stream along the slope via a series of roughly parallel channels or gutters, although simple examples consisting of only a single gutter are common. 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. The water meadow can be seen in use on aerial photographs of 1947, and the gutters remain visible on aerial photographs of 1962. The gutters clearly follow the line of field boundaries removed prior to the publication of the 1st Edition Ordnance Survey map, and are therefore likely to predate 1889. [1-5] This record was enhanced as part of the National Record of the Historic Environment to Exmoor National Park Historic Environment Record data transfer project. [6]