MSO8565 - 19th Century water meadow at Great Bradley (Monument)

A water meadow system was noted on aerial photographs around Great Bradley Farm. [1,2] The system may be confused with the mill leat (MSO8563) at the farm. [3] A water meadow of probable 19th Century date is visible on aerial photographs as earthworks to the northwest and southeast of Great Bradley, centred at circa SS 8578 3403. 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 several gutters on the east and west facing combe slopes of the stream from Bradley pond to the north, which they probably tapped for their water supply. A possible pond at circa SS 8581 3404 may be a small reservoir to provide an additional supply, or perhaps a facility add manure to the water supply thereby creating liquid fertiliser to be distributed on the slopes. The leat that powered Great Bradley's waterwheel can be seen taking a parallel course about 30 metres to the east and could be confused for a gutter. The gutters cannot be seen on aerial photographs taken after than the 1950s, but this may be due to a limited number of later images and some may survive as earthworks. [4-8] This record was enhanced as part of the National Record of the Historic Environment to Exmoor National Park Historic Environment Record data transfer project. [9]