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Christchurch Priory is a substantial monastic complex in Hampshire with origins in Anglo-Saxon settlement, developing through the medieval period as an Augustinian priory founded in the twelfth century. The site incorporates an early Christian cemetery associated with pre-Conquest religious activity, demonstrating continuity of Christian worship across the Anglo-Saxon and Norman periods. Adjacent to the priory stands the earthwork remains of a motte and bailey castle, a Norman fortification characteristic of post-Conquest military architecture in southern England. The priory church itself survives as a substantial stone building containing architectural evidence of Romanesque and later medieval phases, while the wider site preserves both upstanding masonry structures and buried archaeological deposits relating to monastic buildings and cemetery use.
Pre-Conquest monastery, early Christian cemetery, Augustinian priory and a motte and bailey castle at Christchurch is a scheduled monument protected by Historic England under reference 1018277. View the official record →
Christchurch Priory is a substantial monastic complex in Hampshire with origins in Anglo-Saxon settlement, developing through the medieval period as an Augustinian priory founded in the twelfth century. It is designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument by Historic England (NHLE) under reference 1018277.
Pre-Conquest monastery, early Christian cemetery, Augustinian priory and a motte and bailey castle at Christchurch is a Scheduled Ancient Monument, legally protected by Historic England (NHLE) — the body responsible for designating and safeguarding heritage sites in England. The official designation reference is 1018277.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Site of Town Walls in, and E of, Druitt Gardens (0.4 km), Bowl barrow 390m east of Tuckton Roundabout (0.9 km), World War II pillbox and tank traps in former railway yard N of town (1 km).
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 15 strands of Pre-Conquest monastery, early Christian cemetery, Augustinian priory and a motte and bailey castle at Christchurch's history, each drawn from the record and mapped to the exact spot:
Every location is different. Not every section appears for every place, only what the historical record actually holds turns up in a report.
Pre-Conquest monastery, early Christian cemetery, Augustinian priory and a motte and bailey castle at Christchurch stands on Bracklesham Group And Barton Group (Undifferentiated), bedrock that formed in the Eocene. The rock here is sand, silt and clay.