The trustees of the 250 year old Priory House standing in the shadow of the Priory have stirred up the local historical society.  The Christchurch Historical Society are objecting to a bid by the trustees of the house to remove a belvedere turret window from the roof of the house.  The historians say that this would rip out an architechural asset.

The house was built by as a place of reitrement for a wealthy merchant from Sweden and also chief of the Bank of England, Gustavas Brander.  Constructed in 1763 on the destroyed site of the  medieval cloisters by Henry the Eighth and his Dissolution.

Priory House was purchased by public subscription in 1934 and run by a trust.  It is used for church functions, cultural and community events.  The trustees now want  to remodel and refurbish the house to create a flat for a resident caretaker to ensure security and access to Priory House at weekends and evenings.

This would involve removal of a the belvedere window and replacing it with a dormer window which would facilitate the relocation of  the stairs and to increase the required space for the flat.  It is widely believed that the wooden belevedere was added in the early part of the 19th century but is now in poor condition.

Local historian and former mayor of Christchurch,  Michael Hodges says that the belvedere is an important part of the building and providesa link to our smuggling heritage.  He thinks that the watchtower was used by Mr. Brander and his successors to have uninterrupted views of the harbour.  He added that although Mr. Brander was not known to be involved directly with smuggling he may have had it built to watch over operations he may have financed.  Why would he want it built between the Priory and the Quay?