Historical development of Church of England dioceses

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This page traces the history of the dioceses and cathedrals of the Church of England. Since it is customary in that country to name nearly all dioceses after their cathedrals, the two terms are used somewhat interchangeably, even though they are technically separate things. The dioceses of the Church of England are administrative territorial units governed by a bishop, of which there are currently 44. 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.

The structure of diocese within the Church of England was initially inherited from the Roman Catholic Church as part of the English 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.

The last 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.

Contents 1 History 1.1 Ancient cathedrals 1.1.1 Pre-Conquest 1.1.2 Post-conquest 1.2 The Henrican Reorganization 1.3 Modern foundations 2 Line of descent 3 See also

[edit] History

[edit] Ancient cathedrals

The mediæval Church of England was organized into 17 dioceses. About half of the diocesian cathedrals were also monasteries, with the abbot serving double duty as dean of the cathedral. The rest were served by a college of "secular" canons — non-monastic priests living under no fixed rule of life. Both types often had Saxon foundations

[edit] Pre-Conquest

Diocese	Founded	Monastic or secular?	Notes
Canterbury	597	Monastic	None
Rochester	604	Monastic	None
London	604	Monastic	None
York	625	Secular	None
Dorchester/Winchester	634 (Dorchester) /662 (Winchester)	Monastic	None
Lichfield	669	Secular	After 1100, the see was occasionally Coventry or Chester
Leicester / Dorchester	670 (Leicester) / 875 (Dorchester)
Hereford	676	Secular	None
Lindsey	678
Worcester	680	Monastic	None
Bath and Wells	909	Monastic/Secular	Bath was monastical and Wells a college of secular canons; after 1090 Wells was usually reckoned as the cathedral
Durham	995	Monastic	Transferred in that year from Chester-le-Street, itself a transfer from Lindisfarne
Exeter	1050	Secular	None

[edit] Post-conquest

Diocese	Founded	Monastic or secular?	Notes
Lincoln	1072	Secular	Transferred in that year from Dorchester
Chichester	1075	Secular	Transferred in that year from Selsey
Salisbury	1078	Secular	Transferred in that year from Sherborne
Norwich	1091	Monastic	Transferred in that year from Thetford, itself a transfer from Elmham
Ely	1109	Monastic	None
Carlisle	1133	Monastic	None

[edit] The Henrican Reorganization

After Henry VIII's break with the Pope and the dissolution of the monasteries, the formerly monastic cathedrals were "re-founded" with secular canons. Furthermore, a number of new dioceses were formed, using some of the largest and finest of the other dissolved monasteries as cathedrals. Together, these two groups — the old monastic cathedrals and the new sees — were known as cathedrals of the New Foundation; the old cathedrals which had always been served by secular canons were known as those of the Old Foundation.

Diocese	Founded	Notes
Westminster	1540	Its cathedral was Westminster Abbey; but the diocese only existed 1540-50. From 1550-60, Westminster Abbey was a second cathedral, along with St. Paul's, for the diocese of London. Since then it has not been a cathedral.
Chester	1541	None
Gloucester	1541	None
Peterborough	1541	None
Bristol	1542	None
Oxford	1542	None

[edit] Modern foundations

No further cathedrals were founded until, in the mid 19th century, the huge population growth of north-central England meant that redistricting could no longer be ignored. Since then twenty new dioceses have been founded, each with a cathedral — some are great mediæval monasteries or collegiate churches which were not elevated by Henry VIII but might well have been; others are glorified parish churches; and others are totally new constructions. In the following table, bold type indicates the creation of a new diocese, whilst plain type is used to indicate changes to existing dicoeses.

Diocese	Year	From	Cathedral History
Ripon	1836	created from part of York and Chester	Great mediæval collegiate church
Oxford	1836	took in Berkshire, from Salisbury
Bristol	1836	abolished: Bristol went to Gloucester, Dorset went to Salisbury
Lichfield	1837	Lichfield and Coventry became Lichfield; Coventry went to Worcester; Lichfield left with Derbyshire, Shropshire, Staffordshire
Ely	1837	took in Bedfordshire and Huntingdonshire from Lincoln; part of Suffolk from Norwich
Peterborough	1837	took in Leicestershire from Lincoln
Lincoln	1839	took in Nottinghamshire from York
Oxford	1845	took in Buckinghamshire from Lincoln
Rochester	1845	took in part of Hertfordshire from Lincoln
Rochester	1846	took in Essex from London
Manchester	1847	created from part of Chester	Parish church (with remnants visible of older mediæval collegiate church)
Carlisle	1847 (1856)	took in part of Chester in Westmorland, Cumberland and Furness/Cartmel
Truro	1876	created from part of Exeter	New cathedral (completed 1910)
St Albans	1877	created from part of Rochester	Great mediæval monastery
Liverpool	1880	created from part of Chester	Parish church, initially; later a huge wholly new cathedral was built
Newcastle	1882	created from part of Durham	Parish church
Southwell	1884	created from part of York (Derbyshire) and Lincoln (Nottinghamshire)	Southwell Minster: a great mediæval collegiate church
Wakefield	1888	created from part of Ripon	Parish church
Bristol	1887	created	previous cathedral
Southwark	1905	created from part of Rochester	Great mediæval monastery
Birmingham	1906	created from part of Worcester	18th century parish church
St. Edmundsbury and Ipswich	1914	created from part of Ely and Norwich	Parish church, with remnants of mediæval monastery visible
Chelmsford	1914	created from part of St Albans	Parish church
Sheffield	1914	created from part of York, small part of Southwell	Parish church
Coventry	1918	created from part of Worcester	Parish church; after destruction in the second world war, a wholly new cathedral was built
Bradford	1920	created from part of Ripon	Parish church
Blackburn	1926	created from part of Manchester	Parish church
Derby	1927	created from part of Southwell (Derbyshire)	Parish church
Leicester	1927	created from part of Peterborough	Parish church
Portsmouth	1927	created from part of Winchester	Parish church
Guildford	1927	created from part of Winchester	New cathedral

[edit] Line of descent

If no split is recorded, the diocese is still whole as founded, though it may have suffragan bishops

• Canterbury - 597-present
• Rochester - 604-present
  • split to form Diocese of St Alban's, 1876-present
    • split off (Essex) to form Diocese of St Chelmsford, 1914-present
• London - 604-present
  • seat at St Paul's 604-1539
    • split into Diocese of Westminster, with seat at Westminster Abbey, 1540-50
  • seats at St Paul's and Westminster Abbey, 1550-60
  • seat at St Paul's, 1560-present
• York - 625-present
  • Lindisfarne added, 664-678
  • split to form Diocese of Ripon and Leeds, 1836-present
    • split to form Diocese of Wakefield, 1888-present
    • split to form Diocese of Bradford, 1920-present
  • Archdeaconry of Nottingham split off, merged to Diocese of Lincoln, 1837-1884
    • Split off, merged with Archdeaconry of Derbyshire (from Diocese of Lichfield) to form Diocese of Southwell, 1884-1927
      • Arcdeaconry of Derbyshire split off to form Diocese of Derby, 1927-present
    • Diocese of Southwell, seat at Southwell, 1927-2005
    • Diocese of Southwell and Nottingham, seat at Southwell, 2005-present
  • split to form Diocese of Sheffield, 1914-present
• Ripon, 876, lapsed, re-formed 1836
• Winchester - 662-present
  • Split off (northwestern corner) to form Diocese of Ramsay, 909-1058
    • Merged with Ramsay to form Salisbury, 1058-present
  • Split off (south London area) to form Diocese of Southwark, 1905-present
  • Split off (Portsmouth area) to form Diocese of Portsmouth, 1927-present
  • Split off (Guildford area) to form Diocese of Guildford, 1927-present
• Mercia
  • founded 656 as Diocese of Lichfield
  • archdiocese of Lichfield over Worcester, Leicester, Lincoln, Hereford, Elmham and Dunwich 786-796 (seized from Canterbury)
  • seat at Chester 1076-1086
    • Chester re-founded as Diocese of Chester, 1541-present
      • split to form Diocese of Manchester, 1847-present
        • split to form Diocese of Blackburn, 1926-present
      • split to form Diocese of Liverpool, 1880-present
  • seat at Coventry, as Diocese of Coventry and Lichfield, 1086-1539
  • seat at Lichfield, as Diocese of Lichfield and Coventry, 1539-1918
    • Diocese of Lichfield - 1918-present
      • Archdeaconry of Derbyshire split off, merged with Archdeaconry of Nottingham (from Diocese of York), into Diocese of Lincoln, 1837-1884
        • Split off Lincoln, merged with Archdeaconry of Nottingham (from Diocese of Lichfield) to form Diocese of Southwell, 1884-1927
        • split off Southwell to form Diocese of Derby, 1927-present
    • Diocese of Coventry - 1918-present
• Dunwich / Norwich
  • Seat at Dunwich, 630-673
  • Seat at Elmham, 673-1070
  • Seat at Thetford, 1070-1094
  • Seat at Norwich, 1094-present
    • Split off to form Diocese of Saint Edmundsbury and Ipswich (with part of Diocese of Ely), 1914-present
    • Western part merged off into Ely, 1914-present
• Hereford - 676-present
• Worcester - 680 - present
  • Split to form Diocese of Gloucester, 1541-present
  • Split to form Diocese of Bristol, 1542-1836
    • Merged into Diocese of Gloucester, 1836-1897
    • Re-formed as Diocese of Bristol, 1897-present
  • Split to form Diocese of Birmingham, 1906-present
• Somerset / Bath and Wells
  • seat at Wells, 909-1090
  • seat at Bath, 1090-1136
  • seat at Wells, 1136-1206
  • Glastonbury forcibly added, 1192
  • as Diocese of Bath and Glastonbury, 1206-1219
  • Diocese of Bath, 1219-1242
  • Diocese of Bath and Wells, 1242-1539, joint seat
  • Diocese of Bath and Wells, 1539-present, seat at Wells
• Lindisfarne / Durham, 635-present
  • seat at Lindisfarne, 635-664
  • added to York, 664-678
  • re-formed, 678-875, seat at Lindisfarne
  • 875-995, seat at Chester-le-Street
  • renamed and re-seated at Durham, 995-present
    • split to form Diocese of Carlisle, 1133-present
    • split to form Diocese of Newcastle, 1882-present
• Exeter, 1050-present
  • split to form Diocese of Truro, 1876-present
• Lindine / Lindsey / Leicester
  • seat at Leicester, pre-706-886
    • seat moved to Dorchester, 886
      • united with Lindine / Lindsey, 971
  • as Lindine, seat at Lincoln, 628, 678-971
    • seat moved to Dorchester, 971
      • seat moved to Lincoln, 1072
        • split to form Diocese of Ely, 1109-present
          • Bedfordshire merged off into Diocese of St Alban's, 1914-present
          • western Suffolk merged off to form Diocese of St Edmundsbury and Ipswich (with part of Diocese of Norwich), 1914-present
        • split to form Diocese of Peterborough, 1541-present
          • Leicester split as suffragan, 1888-1926
            • Leicester fully split to form Diocese of Leicester, 1926-present
          • Diocese of Dorchester, refounded as suffragan of Oxford by 2006
        • split to form Diocese of Oxford, 1542-present
          • Dorchester added as suffragan bishop by 2006
• Selsey / Chichester
  • Seat at Selsey, 680-1075
  • Seat at Chichester, 1075-present
• Sherbourne, 705-1058
  • Merged with Diocese of Ramsay, seat at Sherbourne, 1058-1078, included parts of Berkshire not in present diocese
    • Seat of combined diocese moved to Salisbury, Diocese of Salisbury, 1078-present
      • Sherbourne refounded as suffragan, 1925
      • Ramsay refounded as suffragan, 1974

[edit] See also

• Cathedral
• Church of England
• English Reformation
• Monasticism
• Architecture of the medieval cathedrals of England
• List of cathedrals in the United Kingdom
• Anglican Communion