Monument record MDO45583 - Post Medieval water meadow system, Tarrant Hinton and Tarrant Launceston

A Post Medieval water meadow system is visible as earthworks on aerial photographs. The site extends over an L-shaped area that measures 660m long by 267m wide at its southern end. It is orientated roughly NNW / SSE, along the flat western bank of the river Tarrant. The water meadows comprise a highly formal pattern of interleaved parallel floats and drains in five adjacent groups along the river, plus a triangular shaped group to their south-west. The water meadows may have been constructed in the 17th or 18th Century and were probably used into the early 20th Century. They would have played a vital role in the local agricultural regime, allowing more sheep to be kept and therefore increasing the flock available to maintain the fertility of the relatively infertile chalk soils. Drains and water channels connect the meadows with other similar systems to the north and south, along the Tarrant valley.

A Post Medieval water meadow system is visible as earthworks on aerial photographs. The site is centred at ST 9396 1037 and extends over an L-shaped area that measures 660m long by 267m wide at its southern end. It is orientated roughly NNW / SSE, along the flat western bank of the river Tarrant. The water meadows comprise a highly formal pattern of interleaved parallel floats and drains in five adjacent groups along the river, plus a triangular shaped group to their south-west.

The water meadows may have been constructed in the 17th or 18th Century and were probably used into the early 20th Century. They would have played a vital role in the local agricultural regime, allowing more sheep to be kept and therefore increasing the flock available to maintain the fertility of the relatively infertile chalk soils. Drains and water channels connect the meadows with other similar systems to the north and south, along the Tarrant valley (eg see ST 90 NW 185 / UID: 1481213). <1>

<1> Royal Air Force, 23-JAN-1947, NMR RAF/CPE/UK/1944 2313-2314 (Aerial Photograph). SDO19453.

<2> Bishop, Sharon, 2009, Tarrant Launceston 15 & Environs. Aerial Photograph Survey & Analysis, MD002384 (Unpublished document). SDO12459.

EH: Tarrant Launceston 15 and environs aerial photograph survey and analysis. 2008. Scope And Content: Material still held by aerial survey. The area comprises 10.5km² and is bounded by ST 930 080 (SW corner) and ST 965 110 (NE corner).

<3> National Record of the Historic Environment, 1481243 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Feb 16 2023 3:31PM