MMO3596 - Post-medieval water meadow north of Huish Barton (Monument)

A post-medieval water meadow system, known locally as a catchwater meadow, is visible on aerial photographs as a series of earthworks north of Huish Barton, Nettlecombe. Centred at approximately ST 0543 3907, a series of gutters are visible on both sides of a north-east facing valley above a small stream. The gutters follow the contours of the opposing slopes, and cover an area of some 11 hectares. The system does 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. [1,2]