EDO4945 - Town Hall Garden (W7), Christchurch; excavation 1981

The Wessex Archaeological Committee conducted an excavation measuring 4m x 13m during 1981 in the garden to the south side of the Old Town Hall, Christchurch in advance of the Saxon Square development. This site provided the first opportunity to examine an area close to the frontage of the probably Saxon and medieval main road (High Street). The site was entirely excavated by hand. 0.25m of graden lay lay directly on to natural gravel into which a number of features were cut. The west (High Street) end of the trench was severly truncated by a cellar demolished in the 18th century. This cellar cut two medieval features; a 12th-13th century cess pit 12m east of the road frontage, and a possible gravel extraction pit of similar date 3m to the north. The only other features were post-holes and hollows of uncertain date, but possibly post-medieval. There was little evidence therefore for dense medieval activity on the High Street frontage, and none for the Saxon phase of the town. This is in keeping with the dcumentary evidence for Christchurch being a low-populated market town with underutilised open spaces.