MSO11838 - 19th Century water meadow at Great Staddon (Monument)

Water meadow system seen on aerial photographs around Great Staddon Farm. [1,2] A water meadow of probable 19th Century date is visible on aerial photographs to the south of Staddon Farm, with which it may is probably associated. The system covers an area of approximately 9 hectares centred on circa SS 8819 3684. This is a small example of 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 may be described as one system comprised of two parts; the first forming the northern half of the water meadow, fed by a spring to the northwest of Staddon Farm; the second forming the southern half, tapping a spring fed tributary to the River Exe. [3-6] This record was enhanced as part of the National Record of the Historic Environment to Exmoor National Park Historic Environment Record data transfer project. [7]