Christchurch () is a town and civil parish on the south coast of Dorset, England. The parish had a population of 31,372 in 2021. It adjoins Bournemouth to the west, with the New Forest to the east. Part of the historic county of Hampshire, Christchurch was a borough within the administrative county of Dorset from 1974 until 2019, when it became part of the new Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole unitary authority.
Founded in the 7th century at the confluence of the rivers Avon and Stour which flow into Christchurch Harbour, the town was originally named Twynham but became known as Christchurch following the construction of the priory in 1094. The town developed into an important trading port, and was fortified in the 9th century. Further defences were added in the 12th century with the construction of a castle, which was destroyed during the English Civil War by the Parliamentarian Army. During the 18th and 19th centuries, smuggling flourished and became one of the town's most lucrative industries. The town was heavily fortified during the Second World War as a precaution against an expected invasion, and in 1940 an Airspeed factory was established on the town's airfield to make aircraft for the Royal Air Force.
The town's harbour, beaches, nature reserves and historically important buildings have made Christchurch a popular tourist destination. Bournemouth Airport, an international airport which handled around 800,000 passengers in 2019, is within the former borough boundary at Hurn. The airport's industrial park contains a number of aerospace and engineering businesses and is one of the largest employment sites in Dorset.
History.
Christchurch was founded in approximately AD 650 by missionaries sent to Wessex by St Birinus, the first Bishop of Dorchester (Oxfordshire). They settled on a stretch of raised land between the rivers Avon and Stour which carried people and their wares to and from market settlements such as Blandford and Old Sarum (near modern Salisbury). The harbour became one of the most important in Saxon England as it was easily reached from the continent and boats could travel up the river Avon to Salisbury. The town appears in the "Anglo-Saxon Chronicle" entry of 901 as "Tweoxneam" (Twynham) from Old English "betweoxn" (between) and "ēam" (rivers). In around 890 AD, Alfred the Great considered Twynham to be of such strategic importance that, with the threat of invasion by the Danes, he made it a burh and defensive walls were erected around the town. In 1094 a chief minister of King William II, Ranulf Flambard, then Dean of Twynham, began the building of a priory on the site of the original mission church. Soon after the construction of the priory the town became known as Christchurch.
Some time in the early 12th century, a castle was built within the town. Originally a wooden fort built by Richard de Redvers, first cousin to King Henry I, it was rebuilt in stone by Baldwin de Redvers to resist King Stephen during the civil war with the Empress Matilda. The castle again saw action during the Civil War of 1642–1651 when occupied by the Parliamentarians. Christchurch changed hands a number of times: originally under Royalist control, it was captured by Sir William Waller's Parliamentary army in 1644. Lord Goring briefly retook the town in 1645 but was obliged to withdraw and returned with a larger force days later and laid siege to the castle. However, the Parliamentarians withstood the siege and maintained their hold on the town. Fearing such a powerful stronghold might once again fall into Royalist hands, Cromwell ordered the castle to be destroyed in 1652. ;ref name="Stannard p135/136" ;Stannard (1999) pp. 135–136. ;/ref ;
Although the fishing industry thrived in Christchurch, the importance of the harbour declined as it became inaccessible to vessels of a large draught. The harbour entrance was particularly troublesome with constantly shifting sandbars. In 1665 Edward Hyde, Earl of Clarendon, bought the Lordship of the Manor of Christchurch. As part of his plans to improve trade in the town, he attempted to resolve the problems with the harbour entrance by cutting a new one through the sandspit at the foot of Hengistbury Head. However, upon completion the new entrance repeatedly silted up and in 1703 a large storm damaged a groyne which blocked the entrance entirely. Over the following 150 years alternative schemes were proposed but none were ever taken up.
Smuggling was one of Christchurch's most lucrative industries during the 18th and 19th centuries due to easy access to neighbouring towns and the difficult harbour entrance which acted as a barrier to customs cutters. Many townspeople were involved in this illegal trade and large quantities of wealth were accumulated. In 1784 a confrontation between a gang of local smugglers and Customs and Excise officers led to the Battle of Mudeford in which a Royal Navy officer was killed and a smuggler subsequently executed. Another important industry during this period was the manufacture of fusee chains for watches and clocks. In 1790, Robert Cox began to manufacture fusee chains in workshops in the High Street. By 1793 Cox gained a monopoly on chain production in Britain, supplying watch, clock and chronometer makers throughout the country. In 1845 William Hart opened a similar factory in Bargates. However, by 1875 the chains were no longer required due to changes in watch designs and the factories were closed.
The railway came to Christchurch in 1847 although the nearest station, Christchurch Road, was at Holmsley and passengers were taken the rest of the way by omnibus. In 1862 a new station was built in the town close to where it stands today and was served by a branch line from Ringwood. Christchurch joined the mainline in 1883, and a third station had to be built. Christchurch, and in particular Mudeford, had been enjoying a modest tourist trade since King George III had patronised the town in the 1790s but the arrival of the railways made Christchurch accessible to more potential visitors. A power station was built in Christchurch in 1903 to power the public trams. The excess generated was sufficient to light the town, and it was added to the national grid in 1940.
The Fisher Aviation Company began to provide flights from fields at the eastern end of Somerford Road in 1930, and by 1933 the company had flown over 19,000 passengers. In 1934, they obtained permission to establish an aerodrome on the site which became known as Christchurch Airfield. During the Second World War an Airspeed factory was built on the airfield, and began manufacturing aircraft for the RAF; the USAAF Ninth Air Force established a base there in 1944. A second aerodrome opened at Hurn in 1944 which became Bournemouth Airport. In 1940, with the German 6th Army at Cherbourg, Christchurch was fortified against an expected invasion: the construction of pillboxes, gun emplacements and tank traps in and around the town, made Christchurch an "anti-tank island". Between 1941 and 1942 Donald Bailey developed the Bailey bridge at the Military Engineering Experimental Establishment at Christchurch Barracks.
Much development with a large increase in housing occurred from the mid-18th century. In 1873, of common land north of the town known as Portfield was enclosed and built upon and the town's population rapidly expanded. During the 20th century further development has seen the population grown from a little over 11,000 to more than 45,000. In the 1950s a large housing estate was built to the east of the town centre and in 1958 a bypass was constructed which redirected traffic using the town's high street as the main thoroughfare to and from London and Southampton. In 1974 the town was transferred from the county of Hampshire to Dorset following local government reorganisation and was granted borough status by a Royal Charter.
Government and politics.
There are two tiers of local government covering Christchurch, at civil parish (town) and unitary authority level: Christchurch Town Council, and Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council. The town council is based at the Old Town Hall at 30 High Street, which was built in 1859.
Administrative history.
Christchurch was historically in Hampshire and was both an ancient borough and an ancient parish. The parish extended beyond the borough, also including a large surrounding rural area. The borough was given a royal charter in 1315, confirming earlier borough rights which had been granted by the De Redvers family as lords of the manor. The borough is known to have had a mayor from at least 1297. It was reformed to become a municipal borough in 1886.
The parish of Christchurch was gradually subdivided into smaller civil parishes. The chapelry of Holdenhurst was a separate civil parish from medieval times. As the town of Bournemouth began to develop from the early 19th century, it initially straddled the parishes of Christchurch and Holdenhurst, continuing to do so even after Bournemouth was made a borough in 1890. The Local Government Act 1894 directed that parishes were no longer allowed to straddle borough boundaries. The parish of Christchurch was therefore reduced to match the borough of Christchurch, and a parish of Bournemouth was created matching that borough. The parts of the old Christchurch and Holdenhurst parishes outside the two boroughs were split into six rural parishes: Christchurch East, Holdenhurst, Hurn, Pokesdown, Southbourne and Winton. The southern part of Christchurch East was made a separate parish called Highcliffe in 1897. Highcliffe was subsequently absorbed into the parish and borough of Christchurch in 1932.
The old municipal borough of Christchurch was abolished in 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972 and replaced with a larger non-metropolitan district of Christchurch, which was transferred from Hampshire to Dorset. Christchurch's borough status was transferred to the new district, allowing the council to take the name Christchurch Borough Council and giving the chair of the council the title of mayor, continuing Christchurch's series of mayors dating back to the 13th century. The new borough covered the area of the old borough plus the parish of Hurn (including an area transferred to it from Sopley) and a new parish of Burton, created from the western part of the old Christchurch East parish. The remainder of Christchurch East became a new parish called Bransgore and stayed in Hampshire as part of the New Forest District.
Christchurch Borough Council was a lower-tier district council, with county-level services provided by Dorset County Council. The borough council was initially based at the Town Hall, which at that time was much larger, incorporating adjoining former school buildings to the rear. In 1980 the council moved to new Civic Offices on Bridge Street, after which most of the Town Hall was demolished to make way for the Saxon Square shopping centre, retaining only the original 1859 section.
The borough of Christchurch was abolished in 2019, merging with Bournemouth and Poole to become a new local government district called Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole, the council of which is a unitary authority, being a district council which also performs the functions of a county council. The merger was opposed by Christchurch Borough Council, which unsuccessfully challenged the government's decision to proceed with it in the courts.
Ahead of the borough's abolition in 2019, the parishes in the borough were reviewed. The existing parish of Burton was renamed 'Burton and Winkton', and the unparished part of the borough (corresponding to the pre-1974 municipal borough of Christchurch) was made into two new parishes, one called Christchurch and the other called 'Highcliffe and Walkford'. The new parish arrangements took effect on 1 April 2019, being the same day that the old borough was replaced by Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole. The new Christchurch parish council takes the style 'town council', with its chair being the mayor. The Old Town Hall was transferred to the new town council, which uses it as its headquarters. The Civic Offices on Bridge Street transferred to the BCP Council. They were closed in 2021 pending a proposed sale, after the new council consolidated its offices at Bournemouth Town Hall.
Parliamentary representation.
Christchurch is represented by a single parliamentary constituency in the House of Commons. The seat was recreated in 1983 from parts of the Christchurch and Lymington, North Dorset and New Forest constituencies, and was held by Robert Adley (Conservative) from its creation until his death in 1993. At the by-election Diana Maddock (Liberal Democrat) was elected with a swing of 35.4%, one of the largest-ever swings against a sitting party. The seat