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Destruction by the Danes
A series of Viking raids beginning in 802 resulted in the destruction of the monastery at Iona and the murder of
many of the people there. The Vikings repeatedly invaded Britain looting the churches and monasteries for their riches and
killing the monks. Monastic life in Britain almost completely died out during the period of the Viking
raids and it wasn't until the end of the Alfred the Great’s reign that things began to improve.
Archbishop Dunstan
During the reign of King Edgar (944-975) Dunstan the Archbishop of Canterbury, a
Benedictine monk himself, restarted the population of the monasteries.
Situated mainly in the south of England these new monasteries included
Glastonbury, Ely, Christ Church and Bury St. Edmunds. The new
monasteries followed the Rule of St. Benedict.
William the Conqueror
William the Conqueror brought many Norman followers with him from
Normandy including religious people and church builders. As they had
done back in Normandy, the Normans started building new monasteries
all loyal to William. The old Saxon buildings were demolished and
work began on new modern churches. William held a Benedictine monk
called Lanfranc in high regard and he was elevated to the position
of Archbishop of Canterbury. Across Europe many monasteries were
founded during the period of the First Crusade.
New Foundations
Generally there were two ways in which an abbey or priory was founded.
The first method was by a hermit who had achieved some fame, followers
and then received a donation to build a church. The second method was
when an existing abbey sent out a small number of monks to colonise a
new one. The land was usually donated by a Lord who wanted to have a
religious house on his land with monks who would pray for him and his
family. The land owner would then build some temporary wooden
accommodation in preparation for the monks’ arrival. In the case
of the Cistercians an abbot and twelve monks would be sent to
colonise the new location. Once the monks were settled and happy
with the location more monks would arrive to start work on a
stone church. In some cases the land provided by the land owner was
not suitable and a new location was found.
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| Selected Benedictine abbeys in Britain |
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Abbotsbury Abbey
Abingdon Abbey
Bath Abbey
Battle Abbey
Bingham Priory
Birkenhead Abbey
Blyth Abbey
Boxgrove Priory
Bury St. Edmunds
Chepstow Priory
Crowland Abbey
Deerhurst Priory
Dover Priory
Evesham Abbey
Finchdale Priory
Glastonbury Abbey
Lindisfarne Priory
Little Malvern
Malmesbury Abbey
Malvern Priory
Milton Abbas Abbey
Monk Bretton Abbey
Muchelney Abbey
Pershore Abbey
Reading Abbey
Romsey Abbey
Selby Abbey
Sherborne Abbey
Shrewsbury Abbey
St. Augustine's Abbey
St. Bees Priory
St. Michael's Mount
St. Nicholas Priory, Exeter
Tewkesbury Abbey
Thorney Abbey
Tutbury Priory
Westminster Abbey
Usk Priory
Whitby Abbey
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