In 1536 the Priory's estates were seized by the crown during Henry VIII's Dissolution of the Monasteries. The land was purchased by a London merchant, Paul Withypoll in 1545, and between 1548 and 1550 his son Edmund Withypoll had the priory demolished and built Christchurch Mansion in its place.[2] The Mansion remains the impressive Tudor centrepiece of the park and contains a museum, art gallery and tea room.