Monument record MWX1111 - Twinham, Christchurch; late Saxon burh and medieval town walls

Christchurch was known in the Anglo-Saxon and early Norman period as Twinham. It was one of the burhs listed in the Burghal Hidage, and defended originally by a bank and ditch. Excavations have shown that a stone wall was added at a later date. The defences were levelled in the 13th and 14th centuries. Twinham was probably a port of some strategic importance, but it never acquired much economic importance, and there is no evidence that it ever had a mint or a moneyer in the 10th century. (1-4) (For town gates, see SZ 19 SE 57.1 57.2. For early Saxon cemetery, see SZ 19 SE 50). SZ 157928. Site of town walls in and east of Druitt Gardens - Scheduled. (5) The burh defences were excavated at a number of points during the 1970s and 1981-3, revealing distinct differences
between those on the Northern, Eastern and Western sides of the town.

The Northern defences.
An early C10th burh 8.0-9.0 m wide extended the length of the Northern perimeter and at least in part comprised natural sand bar material in the vicinity of site W6 and X10. A berm 4m wide lay in front of this, and a ditch 2m deep fronted the berm. In the 10th or 11th century a stone revetment was added to the inner face of the bank, and a second ditch placed 10m beyond the bank. There were at least six ditch phases, but all had been filled by the 12th/13th
century.

(See sites X1, X2, X15, X13, X10 of Author 1, and sites W5, W6, W23 and W37 of Author 2).

Eastern defences.
Parallel shallow gullies delineated the burh in the late 9th or early 10th century. The defences then follow the same pattern as those on the north side except a single external ditch was recut once and the revetment is external to theburh. (Site X9, W10).

Western defences.
These consisted of a revetted burh and ditch. (Site X5, X7). (See illustration card 1 for location). (6-7)

Further excavation at 14 High St (Northern defences) in 1982 revealed a 25m length of the Saxon burh ditch which was cut originally c. 900 AD, and was open for almost one hundred years, and purposely backfilled (site W37). (7)

A watching brief at the King's Arms Hotel (SZ 15999273) located the burh, berm and ditch of the Eastern defences. (8) (See also SZ 19 SE 100)

The fortification can be assumed on archaeological and documentary grounds to have existed from the reign of Alfred

Davies, S M, 1983, Excavations at Christchurch, Dorset, 1981 to 1983; Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society, p21-56 (Article in serial). SWX4065.

<1> Penn, K J, 1980, Historic Towns in Dorset, 39-44 maps (Monograph). SWX1202.

<2> Biddle, M, 1976, Towns, p125, 126, 128 (Article in monograph). SWX4072.

<3> Dowdell G, 1974, Interim Notes on Archaeological Discoveries in Poole Dorset, 1973-74, p67 (Article in serial). SWX3767.

<4> Jarvis, K, 1977, Department of the Environment Archaeological Excavations 1976 (Article in serial). SWX4074.

<5> Department of the Environment, 1978, Department of the Environment (IAM) Ancient Monuments of England (Vol 2), 83 (Monograph). SWX1687.

<6> Jarvis, K S, 1983, Excavations in Christchurch 1969-80, p18-19, 22-7, 31-2, 49-52 Illus 46-53. (Monograph). SWX4028.

<7> Davies, S M, 1983, Excavations at Christchurch, Dorset, 1981 to 1983; Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society, p 23-33 (Article in serial). SWX4065.

<8> Jarvis, K S, 1985, Christchurch - King's Arms Hotel, Watching Brief. site X18; Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society, p168-70 illus. (Article in serial). SDO10160.

<9> Hill D and Rumbole A, 1996, The Defence of Wessex: the Burghal Hidage and Anglo-Saxon fortifications, p108-9 (Monograph). SWX1416.

<20> National Record of the Historic Environment, 458697 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Nov 3 2023 12:17PM