MMO2493 - 19th Century water meadow on East Pinford Hill (Monument)

A water channel known as a contour leat or headmain is visible as an earthwork ditch, descending East Pinford Hill from south to north for over 1.3 kilometres. It may have acted as a simple catchwork or field gutter system.

A water channel known as a contour leat or headmain is visible as an earthwork ditch centred on circa SS 8026 4239, descending East Pinford hill from an elevation of almost 400 metres above Ordnance Datum to approximately 350 metres above Ordnance Datum, over 1.3 kilometres. The headmain tapped an unnamed tributary to Long Combe at circa SS 802419 and possibly acted as a simple water meadow of a type known as a catchwork or field gutter system. On Exmoor these are typically nineteenth century in date and are usually found on combe or hill slopes. They are designed to irrigate pasture by diverting water from a spring or stream along the slope via one or more of 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 the 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]