Talk:Water-meadow

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Why "after 1523" for water-meadows in England? Is there firm evidence that they did not exist before that date?Itsmejudith 08:38, 15 June 2006 (UTC)[reply]

History

Needs a section on history, including when different types were developed and where used – I don't know enough to write it.--Richard New Forest 21:34, 16 October 2007 (UTC)[reply]

I removed the 1523 date as the 1911 Britannica article referenced said that some dated back to Roman times. Would be interested to hear from anyone who knows more about the dating. Itsmejudith (talk) 11:53, 30 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

The bit at the top saying it doesn't cite any sources is obviously well out of date. What it really needs imo is a discussion of why the meadows are no longer in use, a question which is not addressed. 95.144.175.171 (talk) 17:20, 2 January 2011 (UTC)steve[reply]

In his book The A303: Highway to the Sun (based on a BBC programme) which I'm currently reading, Tom Fort describes water-meadows [in the Wessex region] as having been introduced in the 17th century, and dying out in the 20th by WW2 because modern farming techniques (using artificial fertilizers, etc.) meant most such land could yield cereal crops more profitably. I'm not sure (being currently at work) if he gives more scholarly references, but I'll have a look in the next couple of days.

[Edited to add] Fort's book (Simon & Schuster UK 2012 ISBN 978-0-85720-328-1) describes water meadows in some detail on pp 185-9, beginning:

"During the seventeenth century a radical new technology . . . [which] may well have originated in northern France in the medieval period, possibly at the great Cistertian abbey at Clairvaux . . . ."

and their demise on pp 195-7. He mentions as a source Frank Sawyer's Keeper of the Stream (Unwin Hyman 1987). Sawyer, a long-serving trout fishery manager on the Avon:

". . . recalled conversations with Seth, the old drowner, who had worked the meadows since the 1890s."

I was mistaken above regarding replacement specifically by cereal crops – the reason given is that:

"the system was too labour-intensive and expensive to remain viable in the agricultural depression that lasted until the outbreak of war in 1939".

Hope this is of some help. {The poster formerly known as 87.81.230.195} 185.74.232.130 (talk) 12:42, 17 May 2016 (UTC)[reply]