Water-meadow

A water-meadow (also water meadow or watermeadow) is an area of grassland subject to controlled irrigation to increase agricultural productivity.

Bedwork or floated water-meadows were built on almost-level fields along broad river valleys; they required careful construction to ensure correct operation.

The pattern of carriers and drains was generally regular, but it was adapted to fit the natural topography of the ground and the locations of suitable places for the offtake and return of water.

The water flow was controlled by a system of hatches (sluice gates) and stops (small earth or wooden-board dams).

The working or floating (irrigation) and maintenance of the water-meadow was done by a highly skilled craftsman called a drowner or waterman, who was often employed by several adjacent farmers.

The drains in a derelict water-meadow are generally clogged and wet, and most of the carrier channels are dry, with the smaller ones on the ridge-tops often invisible.

Derelict water-meadows can be transformed into wildlife protection and conservation areas by repairing and operating the irrigation, as is the case of Josefov Meadows in the Czech Republic.

The water meadow at Magdalen College, Oxford, is an island in the River Cherwell
Flooded derelict bedwork water-meadow at Fordingbridge , Hampshire , England . Winter flooding has filled an old carrier channel along the crest of a ridge (running from right foreground to middle distance), and has also flooded the drainage channels (on left and into distance, where they join the river). In use, water would have seeped from the carrier channel on the right, through the grass in the foreground into the drainage channel on the left, which would have looked almost empty.