EDO4968 - Place Mill (Site X6), Christchurch; trial trench 1973

Michael Hodges excavated a 1m square trial trench during 1973 in advance of development near Place Mill, Christchurch. The site was 1m outside the Priory precinct wall and on the projected line of the defences. Excavation revealed 1.0m of 18th-19th century layers overlying a grey clayey silt. At a depth of 0.2m in the silt was a large piece of ironstone. Excavation terminated at this depth (c. 1.2m) and the water table at high tide was noted to be 0.5m below modern ground level. A later watching brief of the area by P. Aitken revealed only late post-medieval layers.