Agricultural History Review, Volume 51 Part 2 (2003), pp. 163–172

The development and rapid spread of water meadows through the chalkland valleys of Wessex was a major agricultural innovation of the seventeenth century. This article traces the history of a large-scale project for watering the meadows along the wide valley of the Avon south of Salisbury. The successful completion of this scheme, in spite of the difficulties encountered and the expense involved, is a tribute both to the tenacity of the manorial steward and to the value of the early grass and reliable crops of hay which watered meadows provided. 

Complete Volume PDF