Remains of water-meadow water control structure

Image: © Caroline Tandy Taken: 6 Aug 2006

This area of old water-meadows next to the River Frome is scattered with these abandoned water control structures. Along with a series of ditches which criss-crossed the meadows and connected to the river, the structures were used to deliberately flood the meadows with a shallow layer of water in winter. The near-static water dropped its load of silt, hence adding nutrients to the soil, and the water kept the land warmer, encouraging early grass growth once the water was drained away in the spring. Judging by their condition and the presence of concrete, it would appear that these structures were still in use into the 20th century.

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