MMO3114 - 19th Century water meadow around Milbrook deserted farmstead (Monument)

A water meadow of probable 19th Century date is visible on aerial photographs as earthworks centred on circa SS 8951 3088, to the north and south of the deserted farmstead of Milbrook. 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. This is an elongated water-meadow, covering almost 9 hectares of narrow combe slopes. The gutters can still be seen on aerial photographs of 1972 but have clearly been out of use for some time. [1-4] This record was enhanced as part of the National Record of the Historic Environment to Exmoor National Park Historic Environment Record data transfer project. [5,6]