diff --git a/CHANGELOG.markdown b/CHANGELOG.markdown
--- a/CHANGELOG.markdown
+++ b/CHANGELOG.markdown
@@ -1,3 +1,12 @@
+1.18.1
+------
+* Added an `-f-template-haskell` option to allow disabling `template-haskell` support. This is an unsupported configuration but may be useful for expert users in sandbox configurations.
+* Added lenses for extracting corner various sub-matrices e.g. `_m22`, `_m33`
+
+1.18.0.2
+--------
+* Fixed builds on even older GHCs.
+
 1.18.0.1
 --------
 * Fixed the test suite.
diff --git a/linear.cabal b/linear.cabal
--- a/linear.cabal
+++ b/linear.cabal
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 name:          linear
 category:      Math, Algebra
-version:       1.18.0.1
+version:       1.18.1
 license:       BSD3
 cabal-version: >= 1.8
 license-file:  LICENSE
@@ -24,6 +24,14 @@
   CHANGELOG.markdown
   README.markdown
 
+flag template-haskell
+  description:
+    You can disable the use of the `template-haskell` package using `-f-template-haskell`.
+    .
+    Disabling this is an unsupported configuration, but it may be useful for accelerating builds in sandboxes for expert users.
+  default: True
+  manual: True
+
 source-repository head
   type: git
   location: git://github.com/ekmett/linear.git
@@ -45,12 +53,14 @@
     semigroups           >= 0.9   && < 1,
     semigroupoids        >= 3     && < 5,
     tagged               >= 0.4.4 && < 1,
-    template-haskell     >= 2.7   && < 3.0,
     transformers         >= 0.2   && < 0.5,
     transformers-compat  >= 0.4   && < 1,
     unordered-containers >= 0.2.3 && < 0.3,
     vector               >= 0.10  && < 0.11,
     void                 >= 0.6   && < 1
+
+  if flag(template-haskell) && impl(ghc)
+    build-depends: template-haskell >= 2.7 && < 3.0
 
   exposed-modules:
     Linear
diff --git a/src/Linear/Matrix.hs b/src/Linear/Matrix.hs
--- a/src/Linear/Matrix.hs
+++ b/src/Linear/Matrix.hs
@@ -30,6 +30,9 @@
   , fromQuaternion
   , mkTransformation
   , mkTransformationMat
+  , _m22, _m23, _m24
+  , _m32, _m33, _m34
+  , _m42, _m43, _m44
   ) where
 
 import Control.Applicative
@@ -243,6 +246,51 @@
 -- translation = (. fmap (^._w)) . _xyz where
 --   x ^. l = getConst (l Const x)
 -}
+
+-- |Extract a 2x2 matrix from a matrix of higher dimensions by dropping excess
+-- rows and columns.
+_m22 :: (Representable t, R2 t, R2 v) => Lens' (t (v a)) (M22 a)
+_m22 = column _xy._xy
+
+-- |Extract a 2x3 matrix from a matrix of higher dimensions by dropping excess
+-- rows and columns.
+_m23 :: (Representable t, R2 t, R3 v) => Lens' (t (v a)) (M23 a)
+_m23 = column _xyz._xy
+
+-- |Extract a 2x4 matrix from a matrix of higher dimensions by dropping excess
+-- rows and columns.
+_m24 :: (Representable t, R2 t, R4 v) => Lens' (t (v a)) (M24 a)
+_m24 = column _xyzw._xy
+
+-- |Extract a 3x2 matrix from a matrix of higher dimensions by dropping excess
+-- rows and columns.
+_m32 :: (Representable t, R3 t, R2 v) => Lens' (t (v a)) (M32 a)
+_m32 = column _xy._xyz
+
+-- |Extract a 3x3 matrix from a matrix of higher dimensions by dropping excess
+-- rows and columns.
+_m33 :: (Representable t, R3 t, R3 v) => Lens' (t (v a)) (M33 a)
+_m33 = column _xyz._xyz
+
+-- |Extract a 3x4 matrix from a matrix of higher dimensions by dropping excess
+-- rows and columns.
+_m34 :: (Representable t, R3 t, R4 v) => Lens' (t (v a)) (M34 a)
+_m34 = column _xyzw._xyz
+
+-- |Extract a 4x2 matrix from a matrix of higher dimensions by dropping excess
+-- rows and columns.
+_m42 :: (Representable t, R4 t, R2 v) => Lens' (t (v a)) (M42 a)
+_m42 = column _xy._xyzw
+
+-- |Extract a 4x3 matrix from a matrix of higher dimensions by dropping excess
+-- rows and columns.
+_m43 :: (Representable t, R4 t, R3 v) => Lens' (t (v a)) (M43 a)
+_m43 = column _xyz._xyzw
+
+-- |Extract a 4x4 matrix from a matrix of higher dimensions by dropping excess
+-- rows and columns.
+_m44 :: (Representable t, R4 t, R4 v) => Lens' (t (v a)) (M44 a)
+_m44 = column _xyzw._xyzw
 
 -- |2x2 matrix determinant.
 --
diff --git a/src/Linear/V.hs b/src/Linear/V.hs
--- a/src/Linear/V.hs
+++ b/src/Linear/V.hs
@@ -34,7 +34,9 @@
 
 module Linear.V
   ( V(V,toVector)
+#ifdef MIN_VERSION_template_haskell
   , int
+#endif
   , dim
   , Dim(..)
   , reifyDim
@@ -73,7 +75,7 @@
 #if __GLASGOW_HASKELL__ >= 707
 import GHC.Generics (Generic1)
 #endif
-#if !(MIN_VERSION_reflection(1,3,0))
+#if !(MIN_VERSION_reflection(1,3,0)) && defined(MIN_VERSION_template_haskell)
 import Language.Haskell.TH
 #endif
 import Linear.Epsilon
@@ -283,7 +285,7 @@
   | V.length v == reflectDim (Proxy :: Proxy n) = Just (V v)
   | otherwise                                   = Nothing
 
-#if !(MIN_VERSION_reflection(1,3,0))
+#if !(MIN_VERSION_reflection(1,3,0)) && defined(MIN_VERSION_template_haskell)
 data Z  -- 0
 data D  (n :: *) -- 2n
 data SD (n :: *) -- 2n+1
diff --git a/src/Linear/V1.hs b/src/Linear/V1.hs
--- a/src/Linear/V1.hs
+++ b/src/Linear/V1.hs
@@ -313,8 +313,13 @@
   maxBound = pure maxBound
   {-# INLINE maxBound #-}
 
-instance Serial1 V1
-instance Serial a => Serial (V1 a)
+instance Serial1 V1 where
+  serializeWith f (V1 a) = f a
+  deserializeWith m = V1 `liftM` m
+
+instance Serial a => Serial (V1 a) where
+  serialize (V1 a) = serialize a
+  deserialize = V1 `liftM` deserialize
 
 instance Binary a => Binary (V1 a) where
   put = serializeWith Binary.put