MMO1217 - Post-medieval water meadow south and east of Colton Farm (Monument)

The earthworks of a post-medieval field gutter system are visible on an air photograph. [1] A substantial post medieval water meadow system, known locally as a catchwater meadow, is visible on aerial photographs as a series of earthworks south and east of Colton Farm, Nettlecombe. Centred at approximately ST 0575 3573, a number of gutters can be seen following the contours of the east and south facing slopes around Colton Farm, covering a total area of some 28 hectares. This system appears to be connected to the farmyard at Colton, suggesting that this was an integrated system which also distributed liquid manure as fertiliser to the fields. 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. [2-4] 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]