Most evidence shows that the Premonstratensian canons were not peripatetic evangelists, but austerely ‘cut off in life, dress and habitation from the multitude’, and more austere than the Augustinians. The difference between canons and monks lies in ordination: canons were ordained priests, while monks were lay people. As a result, canons were well suited for pastoral ministry in churches connected with their home abbey, and many served local churches for most of their lives, returning to base when requested or for special occasions like the election of a new abbot.

The Premonstratensian Order achieved considerable success: there were probably eventually 322 houses, administered by 29 or 30 circaries. The order was most popular in N.E. France, Lorraine, the Low Countries, Germany, Poland, Bohemia, Hungary and Spain. It also existed in Scandinavia. Legislation between 1131 and 1134 led to schism with the German houses and a turning towards Cistercian rule and more orthodox monasticism.  For more details of the Order in Europe, see the research notes on which all this is based.

The Premonstratensian Order in the U.K.

In the UK, there were some 31 abbeys and two nunneries in England, six houses in Scotland, one in Wales and six in Ireland. (Two Premonstratensian houses still exist in England, but neither is of ancient foundation.) There follows a full list of Premonstratensian houses in the UK and Ireland, no matter how small or how short-lived (those which amalgamated with others or changed orders tend not to be counted in the experts’ lists).

Alnwick Abbey, Northumberland;  
Bayham Abbey, Kent;  
Beauchief Abbey, South Yorkshire;
Beeleigh Abbey, Essex;
Blackwose Priory, Kent;
Blanchland Abbey, Northumberland;
Brockley Abbey, London;
Cammeringham Priory, Lincolnshire;
Carrickfergus, Ireland;
Charlton Priory, Wiltshire;
Cockersand Abbey, Lancashire;
Combwell Abbey, Kent;
Croxton Abbey, Leicestershire;