MMO400 - Post-medieval water meadow south of Torre Farm (Monument)

A water meadow was noted on aerial photographs. [1,2] A water meadow of probable 19th century date is visible on aerial photographs as earthworks to the south of Torre Farm, centred on circa SS 8978 3743. This is an example of 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. The gutters are visible on the south-east facing slope of a combe immediately to the south of Torre Farm and cover an area of approximately 5 hectares. The system was probably supplied by a spring-fed stream towards the head of the combe to the north-east, and tapped by further gutters in sequence lower downslope. [3-6] This record was enhanced as part of the National Record of the Historic Environment to Exmoor National Park Historic Environment Record data transfer project. [7]