Monument record MWX1163 - Street (Purewell), Christchurch; medieval vill

Street is listed as a Village in the Lay Subsidy Roll of 1327-28. <1>

The settlement is depicted on an estate map dated 1796 in which it appears as a smal village of several houses clustered at the junction of Scotts Hill Lane and Purewell. The village also appears to be associated with a lobed enclosure delineated by drainage ditches and roads which seems to define the limit of burgage plots (2). This may represent the area of the primary settlement enclosed from the marsh. The settlement is also depicted on Ogilby's road map of 1675 in which it is represented as two rows of houses fronting on to the main street <3>.

The name of the settlement appears to have changed to Purewell by the 1st edition 25 inch OS map (c. 1870) <3>. The name Purewell was associated with a settlement in the region of Stanpit on the 1796 map, close to Tutton Well <2>. This well has a reputation for maintaining a strong flow of pure water, even though it is occasionally overwhelmed by salt water at High Tides. The Purewell place name may have gradually translated from the area of Tutton Well, Stanpit, to Purewell Cross and Purewell Farm, and thence to the settlement at Street over the course of the 19th century.

<1> Stagg, D J (ed ), 1979, A Calendar of New Forest Documents 1244-1334, plan facing p37 (Bibliographic reference). SWX3810.

<2> 1796, A map of the tythings of Pokesdown, Iford, Tuckton and Week, Christchurch Borough, Bure and Street in the County of Southampton 1796 (Map). SDO10465.

<3> Ordnance Survey, 1870, Ordnance Survey 25 inch 1st edition map sheet 86.12 (Christchurch) (Map). SDO10441.

<4> National Record of the Historic Environment, 916914 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Aug 29 2024 4:16PM