Mayor & Burgesses of Christchurch v. William Dale et al., 1685-1687

These documents provide some useful evidence of the topography and use of the harbour and quays at Christchurch in the late seventeenth century. They also illustrate the range of goods imported and exported, and give an indication of the burthen of vessels which used the harbour. William Dale and other Christchurch merchants had refused to pay quayage dues to the mayor and burgesses, insisting that no such dues could be charged for use of the quay at Mudeford, outside the bounds of the borough. The mayor and burgesses were probably trying to establish a precedent in advance of the redevelopment of the quay at Mudeford by the Salisbury Avon Navigation Undertakers.

Leekhayes (=Lykeheys (1564), Leak Hayes) was a 9-acre pasture, one of the three Priory meadows leased from the Crown after the Dissolution, and owned by James Dewy in 1674. The area is bounded by the modern-day Quay Road, Whitehall, the Stour, the mill stream, and the Priory House garden, and includes what is now known as Christchurch Quay. The Town Quay in the seventeenth century was beside the castle, and was extended in 1672 by a gift of land from Lord Cornbury.