Monument record MDO19364 - Staggs, Christchurch (site X12); medieval boundary ditches and terrace

Excavations in the tenement strip at the rear of the High Street frontage, Staggs site (X12) Christchurch, during 1976, revealed a medieval plot boundary defined by a series of three 13th century boundary ditches [131/143, 133, 137/175], two later medieval boundary ditches [135’ 69] and a terrace, all on a similar alignment. Two sets of 13th century ditches [131/143 & 137/175] were paired to form possible entrances.

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 many shallow features in the area beneath the late 17th-early 18th century dump [31]. Most of these contained a few sherds of 13th-15th century pottery. Three gullies cut a 13th century pit [206]; two were similar shallow gullies [131 & 143] 0.1m deep, whilst gully [133] was 0.4m deep. One other 13th century trench [175] predated a late 13th-14th century enclosure ditch [129] which was on a different alignment. This later enclosure was cut by two further ditches [135, 69] on the same alignment as the earlier 13th century gullies.

These gullies represent a medieval plot boundary defined by a series of three 13th century boundary ditches [131/143, 133, 137/175], two later medieval boundary ditches [135’ 69] and a terrace, all on a similar NW-SE alignment, parallel to and at the rear of a plot fronting on High Street. The 13th century boundaries seem to have been replaced by a curved enclosure [129] in the late 13th-14th century, only to be re-established along the old alignment in the later medieval period. The line of this plot boundary was also continued by a 17th century terrace, although the plot seems to have been extended towards the Mill Stream (NE) by the early 18th century.

Two sets of 13th century ditches [131/143 & 137/175] were paired to form possible entrances. Gully [137] contained over 70 nails.

National Record of the Historic Environment, 884732 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

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

Record last edited

Nov 3 2023 12:30PM