EWX1105 - St Catherines Chapel, St Catherine's Hill, Christchurch; excavations 1967

'M. Ridley directed excavations for the Bournemouth Archaeological Society on St. Catherine’s Hill, Christchurch during 1967. This '... uncovered the remains of a series of medieval chapels. They lie within a rectangular earthwork of unusual shape, with a NE. projection. The banks are probably Roman, altered during the medieval period. It seems from the quantity and diversity of building material that there was a succession of buildings, each one being demolished to make room for another. Eight types of roofing have been recovered including stone, tiles, slates, glazed and unglazed pottery-tiles, and very fine cocks-comb glazed ridge-tiles. Some building-stone was imported from Portland, some from the Isle of Wight, and some possibly from the continent. Glazed and unglazed pottery, bones of wild boar, sheep and ox, window-glass and nails, have been found, but no personal ornaments or coins. The paucity of glazed floor-tiles probably indicates that the floor was removed for use elsewhere. A fragment of a marble floor-tile was probably earlier than the glazed tiles. From the evidence available it seems that there was a chapel on the site from the 11th until the 16th century.'