EDO5003 - Christchurch Priory Buttress; watching brief Stage 2 2007

ASI Heritage Consultants conducted an archaeological watching brief during the second stage of geotechnic investigations at the base of the central buttress of the north choir aisle of the Priory Church at Christchurch in January 2007. An abnormally raked buttress foundation of rubble concrete lying over two cist type burials was revealed. The burials were in rubble sarcophagi of 9th-13th century form at a depth of c. 1.8m below ground level. The report concludes that the buttress is later than the burials and that all the ground within the vicinity of the buttress is likely to have been intensively disturbed by recurrent overlapping graves. Notable artefacts included residual mesolithic worked flint.