MMO1796 - Post-medieval water meadow east of West Bodley (Monument)

A post-medieval water meadow system, known locally as a catchwater meadow, is visible on aerial photographs as a series of earthworks to the immediate west of West Bodley, Parracombe. Located on a gentle southwest facing slope, three ditches known as gutters are visible stretching across a single field of about 0.5 hectares centred at SS 6667 4522. The gutters measure between 60 and 120 metres long. Catchwater meadow systems used a series of approximately parallel gutters to distribute running water evenly over the surface of the meadow, in order to encourage early growth in spring and prevent the ground freezing in winter. This system may have been connected to a farmyard at West Bodley or one of the other farms nearby, and may also have distributed liquid manure over the fields as fertiliser. Most catchwater meadow systems 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]