SDO20746 - Church Hatch, 13 Church Street, Christchurch. Archaeological Observations and Recording during Extenstion of Garage and Formation of New Car Parking Area and Garden Works

‘Terrain Archaeology carried out archaeological observations and recording during works at Church Hatch, Church Street, Christchurch. The works were small in scale and the archaeological observations only recorded significant archaeology in one trench close to the street frontage. Two pits containing small quantities of medieval pottery, one other cut feature and a possible stone setting were recorded. The location of the pits close to the street frontage (and close to the edge of the Christchurch Castle ditch) may indicate that the frontage of this part of Church Street between the castle and the priory was not built up during the medieval period. In addition the watching brief revealed evidence of the raising of the ground levels to the side and to the rear of the house in the nineteenth century. A WWII air raid shelter in the rear garden was also recorded.’