page_title: Christchurch, Dorset
section_title: Town centre
hierarchical_section_title: Christchurch, Dorset / Landmarks / Town centre
caption_attribution_description: English: The mayor's parlour in Christchurch, Dorset. The mayor's parlour was the town hall until the civic offices were built in the mid 1970s. Part of it was demolished circa 1982. What remains is the original market hall which was moved to its present position in 1849. It was built in 1745 at the junction of Castle Street, Church Street and the High Street.
context_page_description: Christchurch is a town and civil parish in Dorset on the south coast of England. The town covers an area of 19.5 square miles and had a population of 48,368 in 2013. 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 seventh 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 in Christchurch and became one of the town's most lucrative industries.
context_section_description: Christchurch's town centre encompasses a mixture of traditional public houses, restaurants, coffee shops, antiquated cottages and historic listed buildings. The older part of the town dates from Saxon times and retains its Saxon street layout. The Grade II listed Mayor's Parlour was built as the market hall in 1745 at the far end of the High Street but was moved to its present position in 1849. It was enclosed and extended, and used as the town hall until the civic offices were built in the mid-1970s. It was restored to its former condition circa 1982 when the Saxon Square shopping precinct was built.
  High Street contains two Grade II listed public houses: Ye Olde George Inne, once a coach house, and the Ship Inn which has the oldest licence in Christchurch. A known haunt of smugglers, the Ship Inn's history can be traced back to 1688. At the end of High Street is Church Street which contains Church Hatch, a Grade II* listed Georgian residence. Once the home of Sir Owen Tudor Burne, it was saved from demolition in 1929 by public appeal. Ye Olde Eight Bells, a Grade II listed gift shop in Church Street, was once another alehouse frequented by smugglers and central to a number of local legends. Close by in Castle Street is the Perfumery, a 14th-century thatched property often referred to as the old courthouse; although some local historians maintain that this was next door and long gone.
  The town centre contains three Grade I listed bridges. The Town Bridge is a 15th-century ashlar stone bridge composed of two portions separated by a narrow strip of land. The eastern portion crosses the narrower of two branches of the River Avon that pass through the town and features five low round-headed arches. The western bridge features two arches and crosses the millstream which runs adjacent to the Avon. To the east of the Town Bridge on the same route from the town centre the Waterloo Bridge spans the larger branch of the Avon. Built circa 1816–1817 in the mediaeval tradition with dressed Portland stone, its design incorporates five wide segmental arches, circular piers and capped cutwaters. On the northern side of the bridge a modern steel pedestrian footbridge is cantilevered to the older structure.
caption: The Mayor's Parlour and Saxon Square
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