A hermitage is documented in the 13th century at a place called Merchingley, thought to lie near Slaley or Riding Mill. It may have stood near a stream called Stainesden Burn which could be the Stoney Burn, a tributary of the March Burn which runs along the eastern edge of Slaley parish. The hermitage belonged to William de Bolbec and was given to Kelso Abbey in about 1280. The hermitage was associated with a church dedicated to St Mary but neither this nor the hermitage have survived and no traces remain.