MMO2425 - Possible water meadow northwest of Pitsworthy Farm (Monument)

A narrow ditch visible on aerial photographs of the 1940s is possibly a water channel of a type known as a leat or gutter, which potentially functioned as a simple water meadow of probable 19th century date.

A ditch visible as an earthwork on aerial photographs to the northwest of Pitsworthy Farm is probably a water channel of a type known as a leat or field gutter, probably forming a simple water meadow of 19th Century date. The earthwork is visible for approximately 107 metres centred on circa SS 8359 4031, and may have been fed by further, not visible channels tapping Greenland Water to the northeast. Such catchwork systems are usually found on steep combe or hillsides and are designed to irrigate pasture by diverting water from a spring or stream along the valley sides via one or more channels or gutters. When irrigation was required the gutters were blocked, causing water to overflow, 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. [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]