[1] However, by the late 1280s it had fallen into "a ruinous condition",[2] and Merton college accounts show that work on a new church on the same site began in about 1290.

The window is an important example (because it is so well dated) of how the strict geometrical conventions of the Early English Period of architecture were beginning to be relaxed at the end of the 13th century.

Of the seven pairs of windows in the side walls of the Quire, twelve retain original 13th century glass, set in Decorated tracery.

During the reign of the zealously Protestant Edward VI (1547–1553), traditional forms of worship began to change, and it was most likely at this time that the medieval stained glass was removed or hidden.

[6] The Edwardian reforms also saw the removal from the Chapel of the traditional service books, vestments, furnishings, and images, all considered offensive to the new religion.

[6] King Edward died young, and during the reign of his sister Mary I (1553–1558) Catholicism was restored, and enthusiastically embraced by the college.

The choir’s annual festival, Passiontide at Merton, has an established place in Oxford’s musical calendar, and has led to exciting collaborations with such groups as The Cardinall’s Musick and The Marian Consort.

Merton College Choir regularly tours overseas, and has visited the United States, Hong Kong and Singapore, France, Italy and Sweden.

[11] The choir’s discography on the Delphian Label has seen numerous five-star reviews and many recordings have been named ‘Editor’s Choice’ by Gramophone magazine.

In recent years the choir has premiered works by Kerry Andrew, Sir Harrison Birtwistle, Bob Chilcott, Jonathan Dove, Ēriks Ešenvalds, Hannah Kendall, James MacMillan, Cecilia McDowall, John Rutter, Dobrinka Tabakova, Cheryl Frances-Hoad and Judith Weir.

The arrival of the new Dobson organ inspired some of the music, including David Briggs’s Messe Solennelle and Chorale Preludes by John Caldwell and Gabriel Jackson.

As befits an institution at the cutting edge of teaching and research, the Merton Choirbook is both a reflection of the College’s dynamic role as a nexus for creativity and new thought, and a lasting musical resource.

The specification encourages the performance of a wide repertoire, and the organ sounds equally thrilling in music from the baroque era as it does in the great romantic masterworks.

[18] Many of the world's finest organists have given concerts on the Dobson Organ including John Scott (who opened the instrument), James O'Donnell, Paul Jacobs, Thomas Trotter, Martin Baker (organist), Stephen Farr, Thomas Ospital, Simon Johnson, Olivier Latry, and Robert Quinney.