MMO2985 - Post-medieval water meadow northwest of Muddicombe Cross (Monument)

A water meadow of probable post-medieval date, of a type known as a catchwork, ditch gutter or field gutter system is visible on aerial photographs as earthworks probably associated with the settlement at Muddicombe. Such water meadows are typically found on combe or hill slopes and are designed to irrigate pasture by diverting water from a spring or stream along the slope via a series of roughly parallel channels or gutters. When irrigation was required the gutters were blocked, causing water to overflow from gutter to gutter, 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. The main body of the system is centred on circa SS 8335 3922, and is visible as up to 9 gutters probably supplied by two spring fed streams. It is possible that some of apparently individual gutters connect to form longer earthworks. A single gutter some 85 metres to the northwest of the main system may indicate that the system is more extensive than visible on the available aerial photographs. It is likely that further gutters may be present but are not visible clearly enough on the available aerial photographs to be transcribed. [1-5] This record was enhanced as part of the National Record of the Historic Environment to Exmoor National Park Historic Environment Record data transfer project. [6]