Monument record MDO19316 - 14 High Street, Christchurch ( site W37); medieval plot boundaries

Excavation at 14 High Street, Christchurch, during 1982 (site W37), revealed evidence for medieval gullies at the rear of a timber building fronting on to High Street. These gullies probably represent property or horticultural boundaries following the same line as the Saxon ditch. An extensive associated soil deposit was probably a garden soil.

Wessex Archaeological Committee conducted an excavation at 14 High Street, Christchurch, during 1982 (site W37) in advance of the Saxon Square development. The results were subsequently published in PDNHAS volume 105 (1). The excavation revealed evidence for medieval gullies at the rear of a timber building fronting on to High Street. These gullies were of a non-structural nature, cut into natural sand and comprised a long E-W feature [146] which formed a T at its east end with a shorter N-S feature [138]. [146] measured 7m long, 2m wide and 0.10m deep and followed the alignment of the late Saxon defensive ditch. This gully may have continued west to High Street, but had been truncated by later activity. [138] measured 3.5m long, 0.8m wide and 0.15m deep, and probably continued to the south. Just to the north of [146] was a shallow roughly oval feature [142], 2m long, 1.5m wide and 0.12m deep. This contained two possible post-hole bases. Furthermore, the central northern edge of [146] was cut by a circular post-hole [144], 0.33m diameter and 0.17m deep. This was matched 7m to the east by a similar feature [134], 0.36m diameter, 0.11m deep, cut into the Saxon ditch fill. All these features were sealed by a single dark deposit of silt and sand [96] 0.1-0.2m thick, which contained a fair amount of 13th-15th century pottery. These gullies probably represent property or horticultural boundaries following the same line as the Saxon ditch. the size and nature of the plot, seems to have continued through in to recent times, reflected in the position of Frisby’s shop. The extensive associated soil deposit was probably a garden soil.

Record last edited

Feb 17 2011 11:49AM