Merton Priory was an English Augustinian

priory A priory is a monastery of men or women under religious vows that is headed by a prior or prioress. Priories may be houses of mendicant friars or nuns (such as the Dominicans, Augustinians, Franciscans, and Carmelites), or monasteries of ...

founded in 1114 by Gilbert Norman,

Sheriff of Surrey The list of known High Sheriffs of Surrey extends back to 1066. At various times the High Sheriff of Surrey was also High Sheriff of Sussex (1229–1231, 1232–1240, 1242–1567, 1571–1635). 1066–1228 (High Sheriffs of Surrey only) 1229– ...

under King

Henry I Henry I may refer to: 876–1366 * Henry I the Fowler, King of Germany (876–936) * Henry I, Duke of Bavaria (died 955) * Henry I of Austria, Margrave of Austria (died 1018) * Henry I of France (1008–1060) * Henry I the Long, Margrave of the N ...

(1100–1135). It was situated within the manor of Merton in the

county A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposes Chambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

of Surrey, in what is today the

Colliers Wood Colliers Wood is an area in south west London, England, in the London Borough of Merton. It is a mostly residential area, but has a busy high street around Colliers Wood tube station on London Underground's Northern line. The high street is p ...

area in the

London Borough of Merton The London Borough of Merton () is a borough in Southwest London, England. The borough was formed under the London Government Act 1963 in 1965 by the merger of the Municipal Borough of Mitcham, the Municipal Borough of Wimbledon and the Mer ...

Buildings and holdings

The priory buildings were situated within the

Diocese of Winchester The Diocese of Winchester forms part of the Province of Canterbury of the Church of England. Founded in 676, it is one of the older dioceses in England. It once covered Wessex, many times its present size which is today most of the historic enl ...

(now in the Diocese of Southwark) and at the point where the

River Wandle The River Wandle is a right-bank tributary of the River Thames in south London, England. With a total length of about , the river passes through the London boroughs of Croydon, Sutton, Merton and Wandsworth, where it reaches the Thames. A sho ...

was crossed by Stane Street (the Roman road to

Chichester Chichester () is a cathedral city and civil parish in West Sussex, England.OS Explorer map 120: Chichester, South Harting and Selsey Scale: 1:25 000. Publisher:Ordnance Survey – Southampton B2 edition. Publishing Date:2009. It is the only ...

), about outside the

City of London The City of London is a city, ceremonial county and local government district that contains the historic centre and constitutes, alongside Canary Wharf, the primary central business district (CBD) of London. It constituted most of London f ...

. It held cultivated land and pastures there and at other places in Surrey and held manors and other lands elsewhere in England including ''Teign'' ( Canons' Teign) in Devon.

History

By 1117 the foundation had been colonised by

Canons Regular Canons regular are priests who live in community under a rule ( and canon in greek) and are generally organised into religious orders, differing from both secular canons and other forms of religious life, such as clerics regular, designated by ...

from the Augustinian priory at

Huntingdon Huntingdon is a market town in the Huntingdonshire district in Cambridgeshire, England. The town was given its town charter by John, King of England, King John in 1205. It was the county town of the historic county of Huntingdonshire. Oliver Cr ...

and re-sited in Merton, close to the Wandle.'Houses of Austin canons: Priory of St Mary of Merton
A History of the County of Surrey: Volume 2, ed. H E Malden (London, 1967), pp. 94–102 Accessed 9 April 2015. The

became an important centre of learning and diplomacy.

Thomas Becket Thomas Becket (), also known as Saint Thomas of Canterbury, Thomas of London and later Thomas à Becket (21 December 1119 or 1120 – 29 December 1170), was an English nobleman who served as Lord Chancellor from 1155 to 1162, and the ...

briefly studied there around 1130, and later was wont to wear the habit of a Merton canon – as was a successor of his,

Hubert Walter Hubert Walter ( – 13 July 1205) was an influential royal adviser in the late twelfth and early thirteenth centuries in the positions of Chief Justiciar of England, Archbishop of Canterbury, and Lord Chancellor. As chancellor, Walter be ...

. It is thought that Walter de Merton studied there in the 1230s; he established a house for Merton scholars in Old Malden, and this eventually was moved to Oxford, becoming

Merton College Merton College (in full: The House or College of Scholars of Merton in the University of Oxford) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. Its foundation can be traced back to the 1260s when Walter de Merton, ...

Edmund Rich Edmund of Abingdon (also known as Edmund Rich, St Edmund of Canterbury, Edmund of Pontigny, French: St Edme; c. 11741240) was an English-born prelate who served as Archbishop of Canterbury. He became a respected lecturer in mathematics, diale ...

wrote some of his Oxford lectures in the peace of the Priory. In 1205, King John sent a canon of Merton as an ambassador to Normandy; Prince Louis of France did penance there after a series of peace conferences culminating in the Treaty of Lambeth in 1217. In 1236 King Henry III held a

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...

at the Priory at which the

Statute of Merton The Statute of Merton or Provisions of Merton (Latin: ''Provisiones de Merton'', or ''Stat. Merton''), sometimes also known as the Ancient Statute of Merton, was a statute passed by the Parliament of England in 1235 during the reign of Henry II ...

was passed allowing, amongst other matters, lords of the manor to enclose

common land Common land is land owned by a person or collectively by a number of persons, over which other persons have certain common rights, such as to allow their livestock to graze upon it, to collect wood, or to cut turf for fuel. A person who has ...

provided that sufficient pasture remained for their tenants. This was the first recorded

statute A statute is a formal written enactment of a legislative authority that governs the legal entities of a city, state, or country by way of consent. Typically, statutes command or prohibit something, or declare policy. Statutes are rules made by ...

of the first recorded English parliament. On 1 November 1437, shortly before his 16th birthday, Henry VI had a crowning ceremony at Merton Priory, although the exact nature of this is unclear.

Destruction

The Priory was demolished in 1538, following King Henry VIII's Dissolution of the Monasteries, having been valued in the ''

Valor Ecclesiasticus The ''Valor Ecclesiasticus'' (Latin: "church valuation") was a survey of the finances of the church in England, Wales and English controlled parts of Ireland made in 1535 on the orders of Henry VIII. It was colloquially called the Kings books, a s ...

'' of 1535 at a relatively high sum of £960 16 shillings 6 pence. John Bowles alias John Ramsey surrendered the monastery of 14 canons on 16 April 1538. Much of the masonry was reused at the king's

Nonsuch Palace Nonsuch Palace was a Tudor royal palace, built by Henry VIII in Surrey, England; it stood from 1538 to 1682–83. Its site lies in what is now Nonsuch Park on the boundaries of the borough of Epsom and Ewell in Surrey and the London B ...

. The site of the Priory is now occupied by

Sainsbury's J Sainsbury plc, trading as Sainsbury's, is the second largest chain of supermarkets in the United Kingdom, with a 14.6% share of UK supermarket sales. Founded in 1869 by John James Sainsbury with a shop in Drury Lane, London, the company ...

supermarket (Merton branch). Remains of the

Chapter House A chapter house or chapterhouse is a building or room that is part of a cathedral, monastery or collegiate church in which meetings are held. When attached to a cathedral, the cathedral chapter meets there. In monasteries, the whole commun ...

are now a museum under Merantun Way,https://programme.openhouse.org.uk/listings/3686 between Sainsbury's and

Merton Abbey Mills __NOTOC__ Merton Abbey Mills is a former textile factory in the parish of Merton in London, England near the site of the medieval Merton Priory, now the home of a variety of businesses, mostly retailers. The River Wandle flowing north tow ...

References

External links

The Heritage TrailMerton Priory TrustExcavation of RuinsBBC video of the siteMerton Priory – History Unearthed
{{Monasteries in Surrey Religion in the London Borough of Merton Monasteries in London Monasteries in Surrey 1538 disestablishments in England Religious organizations established in the 1110s History of the London Borough of Merton Christian monasteries established in the 12th century 1114 establishments in England Monasteries dissolved under the English Reformation Museums in the London Borough of Merton