EDO4977 - Bargates, Christchurch; excavation (site X17)

During 1977 a trial trench was excavated in the Bargates area of Christchurch to investigate the archaeological potential of an area which was to be included in a town centre redevelopment scheme. The initial trial excavation was 95m long and 4m wide with an extension 17m long and 13m wide to examine the interior of ring ditch 1. This trial trench revealed a Bronze Age ring ditch and seven Saxon inhumations. As a result it was decided that further excavation could establish could establish the nature of the site as well as its relevance to the origins of the late Saxon burh and the rate of Saxon expansion westwards into Dorset. The main excavation of some 1,900 square metres was conducted from January to May, 1978 and included two extensions as the size of the cemetery became clearer. The main excavtion was a rectangular area of 38m x 29m centred on ring ditch 1. The two extensions were to the north west of 8m and 11m. All topsoil was removed by machine, the depth of which varied from 0.4m to c. 1.8m and there was extensive post-medieval build up at the lower (NE) side of the site. Most features were cut into the natural sand and gravel. All features were totally excavated with the exceptions of some modern pits and linear features. Excavation revealed multi-period occupation beginning in the late Neolithic with a small grooved ware occupation site. In the Bronze Age, two ring ditch monuments, which were probably round barrows, were constructed and these survived until the late medieval period. During the late Bronze Age-early Iron Age, two enclosure ditch alignments predated a small settlement. In the late 6th or seventh century the ring ditches formed the focus of a mixed pagan Saxon cemetery containing at least 30 inhumations and four cremations in urns. A large area of the cemetery was excavated. There were 11 male burials with grave-goods which included spear heads and shield bosses. After the cemetery went out of use a complex of ditches suggested the destruction of the ring ditch earthworks by cultivation in the late medieval period.