 |
| St Peter and St Pauls's Church |
 |
| War Memorial |
 |
| Fine display in Church Warsop |
 |
| Cuckney Water Meadows |
 |
| Cuckney Water Meadows information board (see below for detail) |
 |
| Church Warsop display |
Cuckney Water Meadows
A water meadow is a man-made pasture irrigation system designed to allow a shallow layer of water to flow over ‘panes’ of grass during cold winters – a practice called ‘floating’ or ‘drowning’ the meadow. In contrast to flooded meadows, the flowing water was kept oxygenated and being warmer than frosty soil, stimulated growth. This allowed more hay to feed livestock, and therefore more manure to fertilise surrounding land. The system was also used to irrigate hay crops in summer, naturally supplying the soil with nutrients and sediment.
Water meadows are operated by finely tuning the levels in rivers and adjacent carriers (artificial channels), to provide a continuous trickle of water over the area. The stream is spanned by a ware, that can be used to hold back water and to raise the level on the upstream side so that it will flow through the meadow. Sluices on the carrier can be raised to permit water to flow out over the turf.
After passing through the meadow the water enters a bottom carrier and is taken back to the river below the ware or the carriers. By carefully operating the ware and the sluices, the drains have a greater fall than the mains to prevent the land becoming waterlogged and to ensure water is carried away as fast as possible.
Water meadows once ran almost continuously along the River Poulter from Cuckney to Minthorpe. They were commissioned by the 4th Duke of Portland between 1839–1850 and are thought to be the last primarily intact water meadows constructed by the Welbeck Estate. The main section of water meadows was watered from Cuckney dam, along a man-made channel called ‘The Water Lane’ the remains of which can still be seen today.