MSO8335 - Post-medieval water meadow at Bickham (Monument)

A post-medieval water meadow system, known locally as a catchwater meadow, is visible on aerial photographs as a series of earthworks around Bickham Farm, Timberscombe. Centred at approximately SS 951 419 gutters are visible to the south and northeast of Bickham Farm, following the contours of the north and west facing slopes. There are a number of springs and small streams south of Bickham farm which may have supplied water to the system; at least one appears to flow through the yard at Bickham, suggesting that this was an integrated system which also distributed liquid manure as fertiliser to the fields. 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. [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]