EDO4963 - Sainsburys, Christchurch; observations and recording 1974

P Aitken conducted a watching bried during the development of the Sainsbury's site, Christchurch in 1973-4. 100m of the town defences were levelled during the development of the area. Three of the town's defensive ditches were recorded during the watching brief but no datable finds were recovered. Observation of a builder's trench revealed a feature suggesting a timber revetment and the V-shaped ditch 1. this ditch had filled with clean sandy soil derived from the collapse of the bank. Overlying the bank and in the very latest silting of the ditch was mortar, chalk and stone debris corresponding to the wall demolition. About 2m beyond ditch 1 were another two poorly defined ditches similar to those on site X2. Neither contained chalk, mortar or stone debris in the loer fill. At one point the two ditches were separated by a thin cusp of natural gravel. Other features included several undated pits and an undated linear gully 1.0m wide and 0.5m deep on the same alignment as the defences.