This is very old (over 900 years old). It was once considered one of the country’s biggest and most influential monastic houses until the dissolution in 1538.
It was associated with a number of historical figures:
- Thomas Becket briefly studied there around 1130;
- 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 at the Priory at which the Statute of Merton was passed allowing, amongst other matters, lords of the manor to enclose common land provided that sufficient pasture remained for their tenants. This was the first recorded statute of the first recorded English parliament.
- On 1 November 1437, shortly before his 16th birthday, Henry VI had a crowning ceremony at Merton Priory.
It only has limited opening time and is located under a road near Merton Abbey Mills.
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