Granted to the College along with other estates and properties in the 1440s by the founder, King Henry VI, Merton Hall was acquired by Henry VI from Merton College, Oxford, in exchange for the manor of Stratton St Margaret in Wiltshire. He later granted it to King's College at the Foundation with the condition that the estate should be surrendered to Merton College should they be forced to leave Stratton St Margaret, which indeed occurred in 1464. King's College clearly continued an interest in the land, however, as documents relating to its lease and sale up until the nineteenth century have been retained.