Location Map
(click on it to enlarge in new window)
Church Street 
in Christchurch town centre runs SSE from its junction
with the
High Street and Castle Street to the gates of the
Priory .
More demure at its southern extremity
as if in deference to the
great Norman church which
aspires to the proportions of a cathedral, the northern end of Church Street
is devoted to
colourful service of commerce and hospitality. Yet this has been the essence of its nature
for a millenium at the very least, and it is only some of the punters, the customers, who
have changed. The townsfolk have always been here, but, as surely as the drab medieaval
pilgrim has has flowed into the silent shadows of the town's history, so, from those very
same pages, has emerged the more colourful tourist of the present day. Thus it is, thus it
was and, on the whole, very little has changed.
Yet such an assertion does not carry truth in its entirety. While many travel this ancient thoroughfare south towards monuments and what tranquility and respite may be had from the breakneck pace of modernity, it is equally true that many tread this path towards the well-worn pews as Englisman, Norman and the Saxon before has done for century upon century.
However, while looking at this, the northern end of Church Street
, the
Old Town Hall was
built on the south-east corner of the junction (with
Castle Street) in 1745/6. It now
stands at the entrance of the Saxon Square shopping precinct in the
High Street whence it was moved brick by brick in
1859.
| The removal of a street pump in Church Street in the 1860's caused such an outcry amongst the residents that it was re-instated in 1870. |
Let us also note the former Eight Bells public house which is now a gift shop. According to legend, a smugglers' tunnel connected and, indeed, 'connects' the basement of this former public house to that of The Ship in Distress (once another of the same ilk, now a restaurant) at Stanpit.
Also, looking north
along the High Street, the view is now almost uninterrupted
across the roundabout which is its junction at the far end with Barrack Road. This has
only been the state of affairs for a mere century or so because Christchurch was one of
Alfred's 'burghs', walled,
fortified towns within which the citizens of Wessex hereabouts might shelter from the
marauding Norsemen which pillaged this land. A gate previously barred the view and while
the cause of vehicular traffic might be well-served by this change, the eye is definately
the poorer.
In the days of trams and trolleybuses, Church Street was the terminus for the routes to and from Poole via Bournemouth. The single-ended trolleybuses needed to be turned around for the return journey westwards and this was done by means of a turntable in the courtyard behind the former Dolphin Inn. Although the inn was demolished in 1973 and the site redeveloped as shops and offices, a plaque still marks the site.
A minor detour worthy of any explorer of this street is to enter a dozen or two metres
westwards into Church Lane
to take the view backwards of the castle above the buildings
which bar a more direct path to it for the eye - were it to be otherwise, it would
surely be a memorable and much-photographed sight. As consolation, it affords an
opportunity to strip the scene of its modernity and imagine it as it might have been seen
by the Norman Monarchs holding council in their capital of Winchester on the other side of
their beloved New Forest - the sort of scene modern film directors pay a king's ransom to
recreate.
It is here that, able to see the its two extremities, we least notice the gentle
curve of Church Street to the eastward
as it
approaches the Priory. As we follow it southwards, the shops give way to houses and the
tarmac carriageway has neglected to claim the cobbles. At the northern end of the street,
this curve served to screen from view the hallowed ground of the Priory with only the
strong tower rising above the everyday life of the street to make its bold statement on
the skyline. As we approach
the church gates the view
opens up to that of the extensive
churchyard with nothing but memorials, encrusted with mosses and algae, to detract
attention from the Priory Church itself. They stand there as monuments to those who have
trodden this path before and as reminders of our fate. Casting a glance backwards, it is
now the busy commercial centre of the town which is screened from view
by the curve so
as not to disturb the peace of this ancient site.
On the west side of the Street we find three white cottages
which seem quite
aloof from the changes which have taken place over the centuries since they were built.
This despite the northernmost of the trio having been converted into a shop.
The level of the pavement has risen above that of their thresholds since their
building in the 1400's.
Adjacent to the priory gates
Until the latter part of the 19th century, the Court House of the Priory Manor of
Christchurch Twyneham stood behind the wall on the opposite side of Church Street. The
building is comemorated by a plaque on the wall
stands the 18th-century Church Hatch with
mathematical tiles on the rear, literary connections and a previous owner who was most
eccentric. Traditionally, it is the home of the Priory organist.
. The
civil manor had its own court house in
Church Street.
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