Building record MWX898 - St Catherine's Chapel, St Catherine's Hill, Christchurch

Medieval chapel and a possibly contemporary enclosure. Enclosure may be Roman and may have also contained a Roman building. The banked and ditched enclosure is visible on 1940s aerial photographs and on current Lidar imagery. It was digitally plotted by the Dorset Stour NMP project.

A chapel belonging to Christchurch Priory it still existed in 1331. <2> Bishop Stratford inhibited the Priory, on November 19 1331, from celebrating in the chapel of St Katharine on the Hill of Rishton, constructed on the soil of the Priory. <3> An earthwork (8 000 068 B) in which can be traced the foundations of an ancient chapel. <4> A square earthwork consisting of double banks with central ditch - the eastern face is extended northwards to a broad bank running east and west across the plateau. In the centre of the earthwork, traces of foundations, building stone and Purbeck marble can be picked up. <5> Exploratory trenches were cut wherever surface conditions appeared to indicate the former presence of a building. No hewn stones nor any foundations were discovered. Fragments of Purbeck stone , sherds , pieces of glazed floor and cockscomb ridge tiles, several small fragments of painted glass, stone roof tiles and winkle and oyster shells all of which appear to be medieval. It seems probable that this derelict building was the chapel referred to in the VCH. Sections cut through the banks of the earthworks point to the earthwork being contemporary with or later than the building within it. <6> Additional reference. <7> A square earthwork enclosure as shown on OS 25" and consisting for the most part of a double bank with ditches. With the exception of the south side, it is in a comparatively fair condition, though overgrown. A clear space in the centre of the earthwork indicates the area excavated and the alleged site of the chapel. From its low profile, the enclosure would not appear to be defensive and the regular plan suggests a late date. From the discovery of building debris and of stained glass and Purbeck marble, it seems probable that this is a Md building site in a contemporary enclosure, and it is reasonable to assume that the building may have been the chapel of St Katharine. From the north-east corner of this enclosure a low lynchet type bank and ditch extends north to join a broad, causeway type bank (SZ 19 NW 54). The purpose and origin of this bank is obscure but it is some form of land boundary. <8> A series of chapels dating from the 11th to the 16th centuries were excavated over the past two years by the Bournemouth Archaeological Society under the direction of M Ridley, on St Catherine's Hill. The surrounding earthwork is claimed by the excavator to be Roman with modification in the Medieval period (but see (6) above). He also suggests a possible Roman building, the only evidence being "fragments of Roman glass, a few rather dubious sherds, a large quantity of oyster shells and building material". There was complete absence of stratification. <9> Ridley was not available for comment on this excavation but from the evidence presented and the appearance of the earthwork, no firm conclusion can yet be accepted for its period or purpose, nothing of the chapel survives above ground, but its site can be identified by the stripped excavation area and scatter of building materia. <10> Excavation by Ridley in 1967 suggested that there may have been a succession of buildings on the site, each one demolished to make way for another: 'Eight types of roofing have been recovered including stone, tiles, slates, glazed and unglazed pottery-tiles, and very fine cocks-comb glazed ridge-tiles. Some building-stone was imported from Portland, some from the Isle of Wight, and some possibly from the continent. Glazed and unglazed pottery, bones of wild boar, sheep and ox, window-glass and nails, have been found, but no personal ornaments or coins. The paucity of glazed floor-tiles probably indicates that the floor was removed for use elsewhere. A fragment of a marble floor-tile was probably earlier than the glazed tiles. From the evidence available it seems that there was a chapel on the site from the 11th until the 16th century.' <11> The banked and ditched enclosure is visible on 1940s aerial photographs and on current Lidar imagery <12 and 13>. The site is under low heathland vegetation and partial tree cover on a 2014 aerial photograph <14> but the earthworks sre still partially visible. The monument was digitally plotted by the Dorset Stour NMP project. A second record for this site exists - MDO8753, no details in description.

Record last edited

Feb 9 2024 3:01PM