EDO4999 - Magistrates Court, Bargates, Christchurch; evaluation 2005 (Trench 1)

Wessex Archaeology were commissioned by Dr. A. F. Somerville Ford to carry out an archaeological evaluation of the site of the Magistrates Court, Bargates, Christchurch in advance of the extension of the car park. The evaluation comprised the machining of 40m of trenches. Trench 1 in the western part of the site contained 0.9m of overburden overlying natural valley gravel. It contained no archaeological deposits or features. Modern rubble was recorded directly below the topsoil. A homogenous compacted buried subsoil was recorded below the rubble and directly above the natural valley gravel bedrock. Scanning of the spoil from Trenches 1 and 2 revealed 18th century or later bottle glass, glazed pottery and brick. A residual bladelet core of mesolithic/neolithic date made from a local gravel cobble was also recovered.