EDO4950 - Keith Motors Site, High Street, Christchurch; observations and recording 1979-80

During 1979/80 a watching brief on the Kieth Motors site by P.Aitken confirmed that the area was extensively disturbed. The contractor's work on a 50m section from the High Street south westwards showed that there were no traces of the burh wall rubble although two truncated defensive ditches survived in places. The wall rubble was exposed further to the SW and continued down the slope towards site X13. Two ditches with centres 9m apart were located and are likely to be a complete record of those present. The ditches were both sectioned but no finds of charcoal or mortar occurred in the filling of clean buff sand. In places the dune formation survived and had been scarped with the innermost ditch to form a continuous face without a berm. The terminal of an important new v-shaped ditch (A) akigned parallel to the High Street was also observed 10m SW of the inner ditch. This was over 2m deep with a filling of clean buff sand. Aitken augered the line of this ditch and it was found to continue south almost as far as Wick Lane.