Morden College is a charity which has been providing residential care in Blackheath, south-east London, England for over 300 years. Founded by philanthropist Sir John Morden in 1695 as a home for "poor Merchants", Morden College was built to a design sometimes attributed to Sir Christopher Wren. The original college buildings were intended to house 40 single or widowed men. Since expanded, today Morden College is a Grade I listed building and functions as a retirement home. In October 2023, its day centre, the John Morden Centre, won the Stirling Prize for architecture.
History
The college was founded by the philanthropist Sir John Morden in 1695 as a home for 'poor Merchants... and such as have lost their Estates by accidents, dangers and perils of the seas or by any other accidents ways or means in their honest endeavours to get their living by means of Merchandizing.'
Morden College was built (to a design sometimes attributed to Sir Christopher Wren, but largely carried out by Edward Strong, his master mason) on the north-east corner of the Wricklemarsh estate.
The original college buildings were intended to house 40 single or widowed men. It was described by Daniel Lysons in Environs of London (1796):
Turkey Company period (1708–1826)
College trustees were drawn from the Turkey Company.
Lysons reported: