EDO4946 - Sainsburys Car Park (Site W6), Christchurch; excavation 1981

The Wessex Archaeological Committee excavated a trench measuring approximately 30m x 3m, during the summer of 1981, across the line of the Saxon burh defences in Sainsbury's car park, Christchurch in advance of redevelopment. Unfortunately the trench was located on top of an earlier trench, nevertheless some stratigrpahy did survive and the defences were recorded. At the south end of the trench a 2m wide section was excavated through an extant bank some 1.5m high composed of sand and gravel layers. It was suggested that this bank may be a ntural sand bar formed over the gravels of the promontory. A round bottomed ditch lay 4m north of the base of the bank, 4m wide at the top and 1.5m deep, cut into the natural gravel. The top levels were heavily disturbed but the fill comprised sand and gravel layers. 10 sherds of late Saxon pottery, 10th century in date, were recovered from the ditch fill. This ditch forms part of the northern defensive ditch for the Saxon burh.