MMO3120 - 19th Century water meadow north of Halse (Monument)

A water meadow of probable 19th Century date is visible on aerial photographs as earthworks to the north of Halse, centred at circa SS 8974 3473. 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 system consists of three gutters roughly following the contours of a north facing combe slope above the Winn Brook. No springs or streams are marked on the historic maps available to the survey and it is therefore unclear from where the system is fed. Nonetheless, the gutters can be seen to cover an area of approximately 1.5 hectares. The gutters are still visible on aerial photographs of 1973. [1-4] This record was enhanced as part of the National Record of the Historic Environment to Exmoor National Park Historic Environment Record data transfer project. [5]