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. ruins 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. 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. chains was an important industry in 19th-century Christchurch.
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. of the
405th Fighter Wing at
RAF Christchurch, 1944 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==