EDO5795 - New electricity supply, Christchurch Priory; observations and recording 2014

Removal of paving slabs and turf followed by mechanical and manual excavation of a discontinuous linear trench nominally 300mm wide by 450mm deep, was observed intermittently, as determined by the progress of the excavations. The general stratigraphic sequence was similar to that observed elsewhere in the vicinity of the priory: a very dark humic topsoil over a thick sandy subsoil, blending into a dark yellow sandy gravel at a depth of around 1m below ground level, intensely disturbed in the vicinity of the priory by post-medieval building works. Variations to this general sequence were observed in two parts of this trench. At the eastern end of the trench, between the church and Priory House, was disturbance dating from the late 18th century onwards. Along the south side of the shop a layer of fine-grained limestone and mortar rubble replaced the upper c. 500mm of subsoil; it was not clear if this was cut into, but it was noted that it corresponds with a pronounced rise in ground level at the eastern edge of the Priory Cottage garden and the position of a large mound depicted on the 1871 Ordnance Survey map. This is though to have comprised demolition rubble from the Priory.