Barn Meadow forms a key part of Alresford’s rich agricultural Heritage

Over hundreds of years, this site was used as a working water meadow. The site would be flooded in the early winter with warmer water from the underground springs in the chalk aquifer, to give an early crop of hay. An early use of geothermal energy.

The early hay crop was used to feed the sheep that were sold at the town’s sheep markets, the source of much of Alresford’s early wealth.

This is an illustration of the typical structures that make up a water meadow

And with the magic of LiDAR imaging, we can see how those structures appear to this day at Barn Meadow. The carrier channel still runs parallel to Drove Lane, between the two bridges.

The ridges and furrows that make up the irrigation system are clearly visible on this image. They help to account for the uniform distribution of certain vegetation on the aerial image on the main page.