The area around Christchurch has always been valued by man because of its location at the confluence of the Avon and the Stour and its proximity to the sea and prehistoric remains have been found throughout the area.

The ancient town has a long history and it was only in the latter part of the 19th century that the tiny fishing village on the heathland to the west of it started to grow into the large connurbation which is now Bournemouth and, in many ways, overshadows the ancient borough.

IRON-AGE
The Iron Age settlement across Christchurch Harbour at Hengistbury Head was an important port and goods were probably transhipped between this and the harbour at Poole which appears to have been the most important Iron Age harbour in the British Isles.

ROMAN & EARLY SAXON
Little is known about the area during the Roman occupation and the early Saxon period until the reign of Alfred the Great.