EDO4947 - Sainsburys Car Park (W5), Christchurch; excavation 1981

The Wessex Archaeological Committee excavated a trench during the summer of 1981 within Sainsbury's car park, immediately south of the Christchurch by-pass. The trench was outside the lines of the town defences and was located to investigate the possibility of further lines of defence or other activity, in line with another trench (W6) to the south. The trench measured 9m long NW-SE and 4m wide and was opened by machine to a depth of 0.4-0.7m, the rest excavated by hand. The northern half of the trench was taken up by three large quarry pits up to 2m deep and containing medieval pottery in their upper fills. These were cut by a 19th century rubbish pit. At the south end of the trench several possibly medieval features were excavated. These included a 12th century gully; a small complex of gullies and post-holes in the SW corner and a series of shallow pits on the centre of the west side of the trench. The evidence suggests that much of this area was used as a quarry in the later medieval period, although there is slight evidence of timber buildings. No evidence for further defensive ditches was recorded in subsequent observations during development.