EDO5616 - Former Royal Mail Sorting Office off Wick Lane, Christchurch; desk-based assessment 2010

Allen Archaeology Limited was commissioned by Libra Homes to carry out a desk-based assessment of the archaeological potential of a site at the former Royal Mail Sorting Office on Wick Lane, Christchurch. The site lies approximately 3.0m above Ordnance Datum, and covers an area of approximately 0.1 hectares. The desk-based assessment comprised of the consultation of a range of primary and secondary sources. These include the Dorset Historic Environment Record, Dorset Archives Office, Dorset Local Studies Library, Heritage Gateway Website and Allen Archaeology’s own reference library. There is limited evidence of prehistoric activity within the study area; a lower Palaeolithic hand axe was found a 21-24 High Street. 800m to the south-west is the remains of a round barrow and excavations in 1971 at Druitt Gardens exposed a small pit containing 48 sherds of pottery primarily of Iron Age date. Romano-British evidence is present but limited, restricted to small numbers of residual artefacts. At the same Druitt Gardens site, two small sherds of Roman pottery were recovered from a pit of 12th – 13th century date were found. Few remains associated with Saxon activity are located within the study area, a six-post structure has been tentatively identified as Saxo-Norman. The site lies within the Saxon core of the town which is an area likely to have been settled in the past. It was inside the burh defences and during the medieval period, there is evidence the defences constricted, and that the major ditch associated with the defences runs through the western half of the site. Christchurch Brewery and its associated buildings were built in the 18th century, and these are known to pass across the development site. Cellars associated with the brewery will have impacted on any archaeological remains. Over all, the archaeological potential for the site is high.