Christchurch Priory Car Park — Attraction in Christchurch

Christchurch Quay, from the quay you can find a ferry that will take you over to Hengistbury Head, also a little further along the Quay there is a ferry boat ( named the Wick Ferry ) that will take you across the river to the pretty village of Wick or even onto the Tuckton tea rooms. This ferry started around 1880 by Eli Miller, and only cost then, a halfpenny to cross the river. Christchurch was 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 by the Parliamentarian Army during the English Civil War. During the 18th and 19th centuries smuggling flourished in Christchurch and became one of the town's most lucrative industries. The town was heavily fortified during Second World War as a precaution against an expected invasion and in 1940 a Airspeed factory was established on the town's airfield which manufactured aircraft for the Royal Air Force. 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...

Plenty of decent sized spaces. Bring plenty of coins to pay for parking though because you can only pay by credit card using a mobile phone app and there's next to no phone signal with which to pay for the parking. I spent 15 minutes repeatedly trying to get a strong enough phone signal for the payment to go through, including standing in the boot of the car holding the phone above my head. If they're going to insist on using a phone app to pay for parking then they need to ensure there's decent mobile phone reception...

Another car park... highly unexciting! This one is a good car park for getting to the priory or if going into town area. High level of one way systems to get to it (or at least it felt like it!!) Thankfully this car park was a bit more spaced out than some we have used. Seems to be a trend on these car parks to pay by app and get charged an additional amount...