List of Church of England dioceses

This is a list of Church of England Dioceses. A diocese is an administrative territorial unit governed by a bishop, of which there are currently 44 within the Church of England. These cover all of England, and also the Isle of Man, the Channel Islands, the Isles of Scilly, and a small part of Wales. The Diocese of Gibraltar in Europe is also a part of the Church of England (rather than a separate Anglican church such as the Church in Wales), and covers the whole of mainland Europe, Morocco, Turkey and the territory of the former Soviet Union.

History

The structure of diocese within the Church of England was initially inherited from the western Church as part of the Reformation. During the Reformation a number of new dioceses were founded. No new dioceses were then created until the middle of the 19th century, when dioceses were founded mainly in response to the growing population, especially in the northern industrial cities.

Current situation

The latest dioceses were created in 1927. The 44 dioceses are divided into two Provinces, the Province of Canterbury (with 30 dioceses) and the Province of York (with 14 dioceses). The archbishops of Canterbury and York have pastoral oversight over the bishops within their province, along with certain other rights and responsibilities.

List of Dioceses

The table below gives the dioceses in alphabetical order, along with their geographic location, province, foundation date and the location of their cathedral (see also List of cathedrals in the United Kingdom).
-
Bristol
(Bishop of Bristol)
Canterbury
Bristol, South Gloucestershire, Swindon, part of North Wiltshire
Bristol Cathedral
1542
-
Canterbury
(Archbishop of Canterbury)
Canterbury
Eastern Kent
Canterbury Cathedral
597
-
Carlisle
(Bishop of Carlisle)
York
Cumbria
Carlisle Cathedral
1133
-
Chelmsford
(Bishop of Chelmsford)
Canterbury
Essex (traditional borders, including London boroughs of Waltham Forest, Redbridge, Havering, Newham and Barking & Dagenham)
Chelmsford Cathedral
1914, from St Albans
-
Chester
(Bishop of Chester)
York
Cheshire (except North Warrington), Wirral, part of Stockport
Chester Cathedral
1541
-
Chichester
(Bishop of Chichester)
Canterbury
Sussex
Chichester Cathedral
1075
-
Coventry
(Bishop of Coventry)
Canterbury
Coventry, Warwickshire (except North Warwickshire)
Coventry Cathedral
1918, from Worcester
-
Derby
(Bishop of Derby)
Canterbury
Derbyshire
Derby Cathedral
1927, from Southwell
-
Durham
(Bishop of Durham)
York
County Durham (except Teesdale), Tyne and Wear south of the River Tyne
Durham Cathedral
995
-
Ely
(Bishop of Ely)
Canterbury
Cambridgeshire (except the Soke of Peterborough) and west Norfolk
Ely Cathedral
1109
-
Exeter
(Bishop of Exeter)
Canterbury
Devon
Exeter Cathedral
1050
-
Gibraltar in Europe
(Bishop of Gibraltar in Europe)
Canterbury
Continental Europe, Morocco, former Soviet Union, Turkey
Gibraltar Cathedral
1842
-
Gloucester
(Bishop of Gloucester)
Canterbury
Gloucestershire (except South Gloucestershire)
Gloucester Cathedral
1541
-
Guildford
(Bishop of Guildford)
Canterbury
Surrey (except Tandridge), part of East Hampshire
Guildford Cathedral
1927, from Winchester
-
Hereford
(Bishop of Hereford)
Canterbury
Herefordshire, South-Western Shropshire
Hereford Cathedral
676
-
Leicester
(Bishop of Leicester)
Canterbury
Leicestershire
Leicester Cathedral
1927, from Peterborough
-
Lichfield
(Bishop of Lichfield)
Canterbury
Staffordshire, Walsall, Wolverhampton, North-Eastern Shropshire
Lichfield Cathedral
669
-
Lincoln
(Bishop of Lincoln)
Canterbury
Lincolnshire
Lincoln Cathedral
1072
-
Liverpool
(Bishop of Liverpool)
York
Merseyside (except Wirral), Warrington, West Lancashire
Liverpool Cathedral
1880, from Chester
-
London
(Bishop of London)
Canterbury
Middlesex
St Paul's Cathedral
604
-
Manchester
(Bishop of Manchester)
York
Greater Manchester (except most of Stockport)
Manchester Cathedral
1847, from Chester
-
Newcastle
(Bishop of Newcastle)
York
Northumberland, Tyne and Wear north of the River Tyne
Newcastle Cathedral
1882, from Durham
-
Norwich
(Bishop of Norwich)
Canterbury
Norfolk
Norwich Cathedral
1091 (from Elmham (673) via Thetford (1070))
-
Oxford
(Bishop of Oxford)
Canterbury
Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Berkshire (except Spelthorne)
Oxford Cathedral
1542
-
Peterborough
(Bishop of Peterborough)
Canterbury
Soke of Peterborough, Northamptonshire, Rutland
Peterborough Cathedral
1541
-
Portsmouth
(Bishop of Portsmouth)
Canterbury
South-Eastern Hampshire, the Isle of Wight
Portsmouth Cathedral
1927, from Winchester
-
Ripon and Leeds
(Bishop of Ripon and Leeds)
York
Leeds, Western North Yorkshire, Teesdale
Ripon Cathedral
1836, from York
-
Rochester
(Bishop of Rochester)
Canterbury
Western Kent
Rochester Cathedral
604
-
St Albans
(Bishop of St Albans)
Canterbury
Hertfordshire (except part of Broxbourne), Bedfordshire, part of Barnet
St Albans Cathedral
1877, from Rochester
-
St Edmundsbury and Ipswich
(Bishop of St Edmundsbury and Ipswich)
Canterbury
Suffolk
Bury St Edmunds Cathedral
1914, from Ely and Norwich
-
Salisbury
(Bishop of Salisbury)
Canterbury
Wiltshire (except Swindon and part of North Wiltshire), Dorset
Salisbury Cathedral
1078
-
Sheffield
(Bishop of Sheffield)
York
Sheffield, Rotherham, Doncaster
Sheffield Cathedral
1914, from York
-
Sodor and Man
(Bishop of Sodor and Man)
York
The Isle of Man
Peel Cathedral
1154
-
Southwark
(Bishop of Southwark)
Canterbury
Greater London south of the River Thames, Tandridge
Southwark Cathedral
1905, from Rochester
-
Southwell and Nottingham
(Bishop of Southwell and Nottingham)
York
Nottinghamshire
Southwell Minster
1884, from Lichfield/Lincoln
-
Truro
(Bishop of Truro)
Canterbury
Cornwall
Truro Cathedral
1876, from Exeter
-
Wakefield
(Bishop of Wakefield)
York
Wakefield, Barnsley, Kirklees, Calderdale
Wakefield Cathedral
1888, from Ripon
-
Winchester
(Bishop of Winchester)
Canterbury
Northern and Western Hampshire, the Channel Islands
Winchester Cathedral
662
-
Worcester
(Bishop of Worcester)
Canterbury
Worcestershire
Worcester Cathedral
680
-
York
(Archbishop of York)
York
City of York, East Riding of Yorkshire, Hull, Eastern North Yorkshire
York Minster
625

References

* [http://www.cofe.anglican.org/about/cofeorg/ Organisation of the Church of England]
* [http://www.crockford.org.uk/listing.asp?id=68 List of bishops of the Church of England]

ee also

* How the Church of England is organised