MMO2727 - Post-medieval water meadow south of Whitefield Lodge (Monument)

A post-medieval water meadow system, known locally as a catchwater meadow, is visible on aerial photographs as a series of earthworks. This appears to have been a detached system that only distributed water to the fields.

A post-medieval water meadow system, known locally as a catchwater meadow, is visible on aerial photographs as a series of earthworks in fields south of Whitefield Lodge, Brayford. Centred at approximately SS 7039 3562, four gutters can be seen following the contours of a fairly steep southwest facing slope above a stream marked "Holewater" on the Ordnance Survey 1:10000 map. The gutters extend across two fields, a total area of approximately 1.5 hectares. Several springs and small streams are visible at the eastern end of the system, which may have supplied flowing water to the meadow. This 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. [1-4] 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]