Monuments & Ruins

Not every statue in London. The ones worth crossing the road for: Roman wall, medieval ruins, and the monuments that earn a detour.

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Merton Priory Chapter House

The chapter house of a great priory, kept under a dual carriageway.

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Photo by Robert Lamb, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Merton Priory was one of the richest houses in England: Thomas Becket was schooled here, the Statute of Merton was agreed here in 1235, and Walter de Merton, who founded the Oxford college, took his name from it. Henry VIII pulled it down in 1538 and used the stone for Nonsuch Palace. The foundations of the chapter house were found in the 1970s and when the Merantun Way relief road was built over them, the road was put on a bridge and the ruins left in a chamber underneath.

Where
Chapter Way, Merton, SW19 2RX
Nearest station
Colliers Wood · 7 min walk

Hours

MondayClosed
TuesdayClosed
WednesdayClosed
ThursdayClosed
FridayClosed
SaturdayClosed
Sunday11:00 – 16:00

Hours from the page that lists them, checked 4 September 2026.

The small museum around the ruins opens on summer Sundays.

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Data is compiled from public sources including OpenStreetMap, under the ODbL. Hours change often, so check before making a journey.

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