'A Priory Revealed'
- the New Publication by Lionel Green
By Michael Hart

The definitive guide to the subject, A Priory Revealed published by the Museum of London Archeology Service is the spearhead title in the present campaign to provide a higher profile of the Merton Abbey conservation area, including the latest archaeological research.

A Priory Revealed updates the two earlier booklets which were more about how the site was arranged and what was produced. This will be the single most important work on subject of the Merton Priory for the general public, as it summarises the history of the priory, as, despite containing an enormous amount of historical information, it has been devised as general reading, rather than as a reference work for architectural historians, (a task better left to the full report being published at the end of the year by the Museum of London which will capture academics but fail to attract general readers).

Lionel's book highlights the work being done by several groups including the Priory Trust, Merton Historical Society, English Heritage and the Museum of London. If I have one major quarrel, I would have had a better experience if the text was not so condensed.

This is by no means a condensed book, but it is meant to attract anyone interested in an absorbing historical narrative of the priory. The editors worked to make the writing accessible, including the key guidelines for researchers, and everything is well illustrated, yet this is no handbook for beginners, as the author asserts a level of authority in his documentary and archaeological evidence.

This book is the product of investigation by Lionel over many years to explore the religious, political and industrial development from the foundation of the Priory as an Augustinian monastery, occupying the site situated close to the present day Recycling of the raw materials used to build the Merton priory

Merton Priory is indirectly responsible for the area's name, despite never being an abbey, but the institution is certainly responsible for providing construction materiels for subsequent generations, like the various churches that fell once their clerical powers were lost

Industries have flourished along the banks of the River Wandle for centuries, many of these used salvaged & natural materials found in the area, such as some future race will build upon our ruins! This was true of the Catholic church who have built upon the foundations of the aristocracy of the Roman Empire and the Merton Abbey Mills site.

When Henry VIII dissolved the nunnery at St Helen's Bishopsgate there was no great disarray as with other religious house closures like Merton Priory, the land and property of the church, gradually added upon over the centuries, was confiscated by the crown to help fund the hundred years war, the canons finally surrendered and the four-hundred year old Priory site was subsequently demolished during the reformation in 1538.

Some buildings like the Chapter house including remnants from the medieval period along with most of the foundations have survived. The waste and rubbish discovered under the old gardens and houses when the site was excavated 360 years later reviled a great deal information about people's everyday lives, but the Tudor demolition gangs took most of the archaeology for recycling including 3,600 tons of stone. A masterpiece of destruction for both the Cuddington Church and Merton Priory that were demolished to make room for and build Henry VIII's opulent new palace at Nonsuch near Sutton.

The tower bells and window lead were taken to the foundries and cast into cannon & shot for the coastal defences. Stone originally from the medieval Priory was also used in the later sections of the perimeter wall.

From the museum's point of view, the industrial history titbits in the book are of most immediate importance, of which the recycling theme is reflected in the text boxes alongside this article.

It is worth noting that, for us as a Museum wishing to promote its 900th anniversary, the chronology of the Priory creates a problem. Merton Priory as an institution was founded in 1114, but there is a second date for the foundation of the priory building itself.

The order built its first church in Merton, situated near the present St. Mary's Church in Merton Park, dating back to 1114. The area was abandoned by the canons (before being demolished in 1540) when they moved from their timber buildings, taking some with them, to the riverside site of the first flint and stone church, built in part upon the old Roman road, and consecrated in 1117 and it is this site which continued to grow.

The Priory site was fully integrated with the River Wandle, the course of which was changed where needed. Its tributaries supplied not only drinking water, and motive power but provided an effective sanitation system for the domestic buildings associated with the Priory.

If we are to promote the 900th anniversary, and start work towards it, then we must decide if it is the building we are celebrating, in which case 1117 would be the more correct initial date in terms of the excavated site, however this would mean planning an event in 12 years time.

All things being equal, taking 1114 as the start date would be a better idea as we would be planning for an event in 8 years, only 2 years after the 2012 Olympics.

This would also give us a second bite of the cherry in 2017, by which time it is possible that the interest stirred up by the first date will have produced more information to celebrate.

From the museum's point of view, the industrial history titbits in the book are of most immediate interest, of which the recycling theme as reflected in the text box alongside this article add new insight.

Merton Priory is indirectly responsible for the area's name, despite never being an abbey, but the institution is certainly responsible for providing construction materiels for subsequent generations, like the various churches that fell once their clerical powers were lost

Industries have flourished along the banks of the River Wandle for centuries, many of these used salvaged & natural materials found in the area, such as some future race will build upon our ruins! This was true of the Catholic church who have built upon the foundations of the aristocracy of the Roman Empire and the Merton Abbey Mills site.

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Michael Hart

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