MMO3211 - Post-medieval water meadow on Woolcombe Allotment (Monument)

A post-medieval water meadow system, known locally as a catchwater meadow, is visible on aerial photographs taken in 1996 as a series of earthworks. This appears to be a detached system which distributed water, rather than manure.

A post-medieval water meadow system, known locally as a catchwater meadow, is visible on aerial photographs as a series of earthworks south of Sherdon Water, Exmoor. Centred at approximately SS 7914 3402, at least twelve leats are visible, mostly running north-south along the contours of a north facing valley above a tributary of Sherdon Water. They cover an area of approximately 10 hectares, but do not appear to be connected to any local farmyards, suggesting that this was a detached system which only distributed water to the fields and not liquid manure or other fertilisers. Catchwater meadows used a series of approximately parallel gutters to distribute flowing water evenly over the surface of the meadow in order to prevent freezing in winter and encourage early growth in spring, thereby providing extra feed for livestock. Most catchwater meadows are believed to date to the post-medieval period, although it is possible that they were first developed in the medieval period. [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]