The Friends of Merton Priory have invited IMVC to help continue their long-standing tradition of celebrating a service of Nones in the vicinity of the Priory by providing suitable music in the nearby church of St. John’s. In addition to leading the Processional "Salve festa dies" and unaccompanied hymns the Choir will offer a short concert of appropriate traditional musical items.

It is recorded in The Merton Priory Records, published 1898, that Merton Augustinian Priory was inaugurated on its present site on Ascension Day 3rd May 1117. It remains the most important of all Augustinian foundations in this country. The Augustinian Canons cared for more than 60 churches, and more than 12 "daughter" priories. One was Holyrood Abbey (1128AD). Nicholas Breakespear, later Pope, trained at Merton Priory (See Abbots Langley Local History Website). Thomas a Becket followed him there. He established Trinity Sunday and became Archbishop. Walter de Merton was Clerk at the priory and established Merton College, Oxford, from the priory. In 1215, many Augustinians courageously met at Runnymede with King John, and by 1236 Magna Carta had been debated and refined at Merton Priory into The Statutes of Merton which head the Statutes of the Realm held in the House of Lords library.

In 1998 a practising Augustinian provided an authentic Augustinian None, which is one of the seven Canonical Prayers. None was said and sung at Merton Priory's Inauguration (See The Records of Merton Priory). We held our first None service in the ruins of the Chapter House on 3rd May 1998! We have permission to call it Nones.

Sadly, we can only imagine what the Priory might have looked like based on Bidder’s archaeological excavations carried out in the 1920s. Apart from the Chapter House foundations its stones had been removed to be used in the building of Nonsuch Palace. However, "Merton (Augustinian Priory).....could vie in importance with the noblest continental houses of the order" writes Canon Dickinson in the Monastic Research Bulletin 2000.

For more information about the Priory please use the email address: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.