page_title: Merton, Oxfordshire
section_title: Economic and social history
hierarchical_section_title: Merton, Oxfordshire / Economic and social history
caption_attribution_description: English: Church of England parish church of St Swithun, Merton, Oxfordshire: late 17th century turret clock with iron bar frame
context_page_description: Merton is a village and civil parish near the River Ray, about 4 miles south of Bicester in Oxfordshire, England. The 2011 Census recorded the parish's population as 424.
context_section_description: The Knights Templar established a watermill in the parish. The earliest known record of it is from 1156–66.
  West of St Swithun's is a rubblestone tithe barn that may have been built in the 15th century or early 16th century. It has a queen post roof and is thatched. In the late 20th century it was converted into four homes.
  There were small enclosures of land in the parish in the 14th and 16th centuries but an open field system of farming prevailed until 1763. In the 1761 Parliamentary election Sir Edward Turner entered the House of Commons as Member of Parliament for Penryn in Cornwall. In 1762 Sir Edward got Parliament to pass an Inclosure Act for the parish of Merton. This extinguished all common land rights in Merton and assigned most of the land to Sir Edward.
  In 1814 one of the earliest National Schools to be established under the auspices of the National Society for Promoting Religious Education was opened in Merton. A new stone-built school building, complete with lodging for the matron, was completed in 1829. Ownership and management of the school were transferred to the vicar and churchwardens in 1870. The school was enlarged in 1872 and 1893. The number of pupils then declined and in 1913 the school was closed and 12 pupils were transferred to Ambrosden. In 1930 the house and school were sold and became a private home.
  Merton used to have a public house, the Plough Inn, whose building is partly Tudor. In the 2000s the owners closed the pub and applied to Cherwell District Council for planning permission to redevelop the site for housing. The council refused the application but the pub remains closed.
  Since the Plough's closure the village has held real ale festivals at least once a year in its village hall.
caption: St Swithun's parish church: late 17th-century turret clock, now displayed in the nave
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