What did Merton Priory look like? Useful links

Introductory videos

• Merton: History Unearthed
• Aria’s I was a Buddhist monk
• Josh’s internship at the Benedictine abbey of Quarr

Here are some sites about medieval architecture and buildings

Norman

• White Ladies Priory
• Kirkstall Abbey
• Fountains Abbey
• Bristol Cathedral
• Northampton St Peter

Early English

• Arcades: Salisbury Cathedral
• Whitby Abbey
• East window: Chetwode church, Bucks

Decorated

• Arcades: Exeter Cathedral
• Capitals and East End: Bristol Cathedral
• Buttresses: Bristol Cathedral Chapter House

Perpendicular

Haughmond Abbey

Other monasteries

Rievaulx Abbey (Yorkshire):History and 3D recreation

Lewes Priory, Sussex:

• The early priory
• Church
• Refectory
• Dormitory
• Reredorter

Lesnes Abbey, Bexley

Various other abbeys and priories

Domestic buildings

• Norman house, Lincoln
• Barns – aisled, big, small, you name it…
• William Grevel’s house (14th century)
• Stokesay Castle (the gatehouse is later)
• Aisled hall
• Penarth Fawr
• Upton Court: this was a grange (a farm) of Merton Priory. The building is from the 14th and 15th centuries. See also here and here.
• Llys Llewellyn

Hospitals

‘Hospital’ was more of an old-folks’ home, and not the supercharged A&E place we think of. ‘Hostel’ and ‘hotel’ both come from this word, which itself comes from the Latin for hospitality. Some medieval hospitals are the Almshouses, Ewelme, Oxon and The Lord Leycester, Warwick.

Other stuff:

• Some of Merton’s carved stone ended up on Kingston’s Clattern Bridge
• The Pathé film of the 1950s Nonsuch excavations (the carved ceiling boss is from Merton)
• You don’t have to read this, but there are two photos of a cute lion gargoyle and a woman’s head from Merton Priory
• And here’s an interactive activity on how to build an arch
• Here are some Early English capitals
• Westminster tiles
• Stained glass
• Tony Robinson’s Worst Jobs in (Medieval) History has an excellent 15-minute clip on building churches (22’37 – 39’04)