The Miraculous Beam

In the first half of the 12th century lies the origin of the legend of the Miraculous Beam.

It is said that in the early building operations, a mysterious carpenter assisted the work. One evening a wooden beam was found to be too short, but the next morning the workmen found to their amazement that it had grown to the proper length overnight and had already been placed in the correct position. The mysterious carpenter did not appear after this and it was assumed by all that he must have been Jesus Christ who helped to build his own church, which thus became known as Christ's Church of Twynham, as the town was then called. Later the town became Twynham-Christchurch, later Christchurch.