[1] In 1094 a chief minister of William II, Ranulf Flambard, then Dean of Twynham, began the building of a church.

Local legend has it that Flambard originally intended the church to be built on top of nearby St. Catherine's Hill but during the night all the building materials were mysteriously transported to the site of the present priory.

A mid-12th century account recording the legend of the Christchurch Dragon indicates that by 1113 the new church was nearing completion under Dean Peter de Oglander.

By about 1150 there was a basic Norman church consisting of a nave, a central tower and a quire extending eastwards from the crossing.

[3] In 1150 Baldwin de Redvers, Lord of the Manor of Christchurch and Earl of Devon replaced the secular minster with an Augustinian priory.

By this action, Christchurch became a Royal Manor which meant that in 1303 it was required to provide and man a ship to aid the King's campaign against Scotland.

In 1330 Baron William de Montacute was granted the manor by Edward III and thus became the 1st Earl of Salisbury (Second Creation).

Although there is no documentary evidence relating to a central tower, the massive piers and arches at the corners of the transepts seem to indicate provision was made for one.

The existence of the cartulary in the Priory library was recorded by John Leland shortly before the Dissolution, but its whereabouts in the decades after 1539 are uncertain.

Efforts to translate the whole Cartulary began in the late 20th century, but not until 2007 was this task completed by Katharine Hanna and published by Hampshire County Council.

After the Dissolution a corporation known as 'The Sixteen' was formed which became responsible for the temporal and ecclesiastical affairs of the parish, with the vicar and churchwardens being the principal officers.

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries extensive repairs were carried out, which included the insertion of tie-rods in the tower and the underpinning of the nave and south choir aisle walls in 1906.

This monument was first offered to St Peter's Church, six miles away in Bournemouth, where Mary Shelley and other family members are buried.

[9] In 1976 Highcliffe Castle donated the glazing of the window in the south nave aisle, which had come originally from Jumièges Abbey in Normandy.

Christchurch Priory, as its website puts it, is 'a living church' with daily services of Eucharist and Evening Prayer, as well as being open every day except Christmas for visitors.

[citation needed] In March 2021, a carving of a mask-wearing NHS worker was placed on the priory as a permanent tribute to the National Health Service's efforts during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Carved by Rory Young, the stone feature is part of an ongoing project to replace damaged gargoyles and grotesques.

The concept was inspired by a photograph of a doctor in an intensive care unit, wearing her PPE at the beginning of the pandemic, an image to represent all NHS workers for centuries to come.

Despite a ten bell frame being installed at Christchurch in 1885, it was not until 1904 that the ring was augmented, the trebles being cast by Llewellins & James of Bristol.

The four trebles and the flat 6th have Taylor fittings contemporary with them and consisting of cast iron headstocks, ball bearings, traditional wheels, stays and sliders..