Monument record MDO19348 - Kings Arms Hotel, Christchurch archaeological watching brief; pre-defence features

A watching brief at the Kings Arms Hotel, Castle Street, Christchurch, during 1985, recorded evidence for a ditch [1], flat bottomed feature [3] and post-hole [21] that were stratigraphically earlier than the medieval town defences. There were no finds from any of the features.

K. Jarvis and P. Aitken conducted a watching brief at the Kings Arms Hotel, Castle Street Christchurch, during the excavation of a trench for the underpinning of the front wall in 1985. The results were subsequently published in PDNHAS volume 107 (1).

The watching brief recorded evidence for a ditch [1], flat bottomed feature [3] and post-hole [21] that were stratigraphically earlier than the medieval town defences. It is possible that ditch [1] represents a late Saxon gully delimiting the area of the town prior to construction of the defences, similar to gullies recorded at site W10. Flat bottomed feature [3] is earlier still. Neither [1] nor [3] contained any finds but both contained sufficient charcoal to provide a radiocarbon date, which may be obtained at a later date. Post-hole [21] was sealed by a mortar layer associated with the destruction of the town defences in a location that may represent the berm between defensive bank and ditch.

Jarvis, K S, 1985, Christchurch - Kings Arms Hotel Watching brief. (Unpublished document). SWX7863.

DCC SMR, to 2003, Former DCC SMR Card Index (Index). SWX8285.

<1> Jarvis, K S, 1985, Christchurch - King's Arms Hotel, Watching Brief. site X18; Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society, 168-70 (Article in serial). SDO10160.

Record last edited

Dec 19 2013 1:35PM