MMO3105 - 19th Century water meadow system south and east of Zeal Farm (Monument)

A water meadow of probable 19th Century date is visible on aerial photographs centred at circa SS 854 300, overlooking Danes Brook to the south and east of Zeal farm. This is a type of water meadow known as catchwork or field gutter system, commonly found on combe or hill slopes and designed to irrigate pasture by diverting water from a spring or stream. The water is carried along the valley sides via one or more channels or gutters and 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 March and April. The water-meadow consists of at least 6 gutters to the south and east of Zeal farm, and 2 to the northeast. However, only the lowest channel is marked on the 1st Edition Ordnance Survey map to indicate that the system predates 1890. The gutters remain visible on aerial photographs of 1969. [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]