Held at:

Private collection

Reference:

RS/TCF

Source:

Original photographs and drawings

Title:

Digital Archive: Turnastone Court Farm Photograph Collection Part 6 of 7 –  The Water Meadows

Place name:

Golden Valley

Date:

2004

Description:

This is part 6 of a collection of photographs from a variety of sources which together illustrate the history of the buildings, fields, farming practices and occupants of Turnastone Court Farm from the end of the nineteenth century to recent times.

Turnastone Court Farm, Vowchurch, lies in the Golden Valley in Herefordshire, (Grid Reference SO358364) beside the River Dore. Most of the tributary streams of the River Dore originate on the west side of the river valley with the Shegear and Slough brooks running through Turnastone Court Farm land. In 1610 the owner of nearby Poston Court, Rowland Vaughan, published a text claiming to have invented a surface water irrigation system to increase the productivity of the grassland in the valley.  Whether Rowland Vaughan was the first person to construct water meadows and how much of the valley was irrigated in 1600 is open to debate.  However there are clear remnants of water meadows systems on Turnastone Court Farm.

Part 6 of the photograph collection contains drawings, maps and photographs pertaining to these water meadows and the related irrigation systems, which were the subject of a detailed survey in 2004

 

Overview of apparent irrigation works in and around Turnastone Court Farm

 

Tithe Map of Turnastone Court Farm showing field names; c.1840

 

Land Height Survey showing landscape features in and near Turnastone Court Farm; 2004

[shaded from red highest to blue lowest]

 

Landscape features in Weeths Meadow; 2004

 

 

Extract of modern Ordnance Survey showing Turnastone Court Farm and lands

 

Detail from Ordnance Survey of waterworks and sluice locations in Long Meadow and Weeths Meadow

 

Detail from Ordnance Survey of waterworks and sluice locations on the northern boundary of Turnastone Meadow

 

 

Stone bridge over the Slough brook between Weeths Orles and Weeths Meadow.

 

Weeths Meadow; Sluice A, just upstream from the bridge on the Slough Brook.

 

Weeths Meadow; Sluice A, just upstream from the bridge on the Slough Brook.

 

Weeths Meadow; Wall from the bridge to Sluice A on the Slough Brook showing partial collapse

 

Weeths Meadow; Sluice A just upstream from the bridge on the Slough Brook.

 

Weeths Meadow; Sluice B

 

Sluice C on the Slough Brook at the edge of Long Meadow

 

Sluice C on the Slough Brook at the edge of Long Meadow

 

Sluice C on the Slough Brook at the edge of Long Meadow

 

Sluice C on the Slough Brook at the edge of Long Meadow

 

Weeths Meadow; Sluice A

 

Stone bridge over the Slough brook between Weeths Orles and Weeths Meadow

 

Stone bridge over the Slough brook between Weeths Orles and Weeths Meadow

 

Stone bridge over the Slough brook between Weeths Orles and Weeths Meadow

 

The Trench Royal; 2004

 

The Trench Royal; 2004

 

The Trench Royal; 2004

 

The Trench Royal; 2004

 

The Trench Royal; 2004

 

Watercourse at Turnastone Court Farm; 2004

 

Watercourse at Turnastone Court Farm; 2004

 

Weeths Orles field, showing possible irrigation features; 2004

 

Weeths Orles field, showing possible irrigation features; 2004

 

Mound at the top of Great Meadow, above Turnastone Court Farm; 2004

 

Culvert in Field 15 at Turnastone Court Farm; 2004

 

Pollarded willows marking the line of Vaughan’s ‘Trench Royal’ in Field 22 [Turnastone Meadow] at Turnastone Court Farm; 2004

 

Pollarded willows marking the line of Vaughan’s ‘Trench Royal’ in Field 22 [Turnastone Meadow] at Turnastone Court Farm; 2004

 

Pollarded willows marking the line of Vaughan’s ‘Trench Royal’ in Field 22 [Turnastone Meadow] at Turnastone Court Farm; 2004

 

Ditch in Weeths meadow, Turnastone; 2004

 

Ditch in Weeths meadow, Turnastone; 2004

 

Ditch in Weeths meadow, Turnastone; 2004

 

 

Long Meadow at Turnastone looking south west, showing possible irrigation features; 2004

 

Long Meadow at Turnastone looking south west, showing possible irrigation features; 2004

 

Long Meadow at Turnastone looking south, showing possible irrigation features; 2004

 

Bank in field 16 at Turnastone; 2004

 

Bank in field 16 at Turnastone; 2004

 

Cropmark in Turnastone Meadow showing possible line of ancient irrigation ditch; 2004

 

 

Observations:

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