Merton Priory was a major Augustinian house from 1117-1538 AD. One of its students was Saint Thomas Becket. The only English Pope, Adrian IV, also studied there. Its work ended abruptly at the Dissolution of the Monasteries in 1538 on the orders of Henry VIII.   But the foundations of the monastery complex, excavated by archaeologists most recently in the 1980s, remain largely intact – and can be seen in the museum.  The tour guide will be local historian John Hawks. 

£5 payable in advance online

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