Monument record MDO19355 - Staggs, Christchurch (site X12); structure S5

Excavations in the tenement strip at the rear of the High Street frontage, Staggs site (X12) Christchurch, during 1976, revealed evidence for a structure [S5] in the NE area of the site. The floor consisted of patches of dull yellow clay [95] which extended over an area 5.6m long and 3.8m wide. This was partly sealed by patches of mortar in an area 2.4m wide and 2.6m long. An area of reddened clay in the centre of the mortar indicated a shallow oval hearth. All evidence for the walls has been robbed. A farthing of Edward I struck in 1280-1 was found stratified on the floor surface. There is no indication of the function of the structure.

K. Jarvis directed excavations in the tenement strip at the rear of the High Street frontage, Staggs site (X12) Christchurch, during 1976. The results were subsequently published as a short note in DNHAS monograph 5 (1).

The excavations revealed evidence for a structure [S5] in the NE area of the site. The floor consisted of patches of dull yellow clay [95] which extended over an area 5.6m long and 3.8m wide. This was partly sealed by patches of mortar in an area 2.4m wide and 2.6m long. There were no definite edges to these layers although a flat limestone fragment was embedded near the mortar.. An area of reddened clay [93]in the centre of the mortar indicated a shallow oval hearth 1.2m long and 0.7m wide. The fill contained a late 13th century bowl that had been broken in situ. All evidence for the walls has been robbed, but they may have consisted of timber sill beams, perhaps on stone foundations.

A farthing of Edward I struck in 1280-1 was found stratified on the floor surface. There is no indication of the function of the structure. Nevertheless, this structure may have been located, along with three other structures [S4, S6, S7], within a medieval plot at the NE end, separated from the rest of the site by ditch [54, 73] during the 13th-14th century.

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

<1> Jarvis, K S, 1983, Excavations in Christchurch 1969-80, 42-49 (Monograph). SWX4028.

Record last edited

Feb 17 2011 11:55AM