MMO814 - Post-medieval water meadow at Slowley Farm (Monument)

A water meadow system at Slowley farm was noted on aerial photographs. [1,2] The earthwork remains of a fragmented water meadow system associated with the post medieval farmstead of Slowley were seen at SS 9995 3807. The water meadow survives as ditches running parallel to the hillside. The ditches were seen as earthworks and mapped from aerial photographs. [3,4] A post-medieval water meadow system, known locally as a catchwater meadow, is visible on aerial photographs as a series of earthworks south of Slowley Farm, Luxborough. Centred at approximately ST 0002 3805, at least six gutters are visible, following the contours of the southeast facing slope below Slowley Farm. At least one appears to be connected to the farmyard at Slowley Farm, suggesting that this was an integrated system which also distributed liquid manure as fertiliser to the fields. The system covers an area of approximately 2.8 hectares. Catchwater meadows used a series of approximately parallel gutters to distribute flowing water evenly over the surface of the meadow in order to prevent freezing in winter and encourage early growth in spring, thereby providing extra feed for livestock. Most catchwater meadows are believed to date to the post-medieval period, although it is possible that they were first developed in the medieval period. [5-7] This record was enhanced as part of the National Record of the Historic Environment to Exmoor National Park Historic Environment Record data transfer project. [8]