The

Archdeacons An archdeacon is a senior clergy position in the Church of the East, Chaldean Catholic Church, Syriac Orthodox Church, Anglican Communion, St Thomas Christians, Eastern Orthodox churches and some other Christian denominations, above that o ...

in the

Diocese of Southwark The Diocese of Southwark is one of the 42 dioceses of the Church of England, part of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The diocese forms part of the Province of Canterbury in England. It was created on 1 May 1905 from part of the ancient Dio ...

are senior clergy in the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britai ...

in South London and Surrey. They currently include: the archdeacons of Southwark, of

Reigate Reigate ( ) is a town in Surrey, England, around south of central London. The settlement is recorded in Domesday Book in 1086 as ''Cherchefelle'' and first appears with its modern name in the 1190s. The earliest archaeological evidence for huma ...

(formerly of

Kingston-on-Thames Kingston upon Thames (hyphenated until 1965, colloquially known as Kingston) is a town in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, southwest London, England. It is situated on the River Thames and southwest of Charing Cross. It is notable as ...

) and of

Lewisham Lewisham () is an area of southeast London, England, south of Charing Cross. It is the principal area of the London Borough of Lewisham, and was within the historic county of Kent until 1889. It is identified in the London Plan as one of ...

Greenwich Greenwich ( , ,) is a town in south-east London, England, within the ceremonial county of Greater London. It is situated east-southeast of Charing Cross. Greenwich is notable for its maritime history and for giving its name to the Greenwich ...

(formerly of Lewisham), the

Archdeacon of Croydon The Archdeacon of Croydon is a senior ecclesiastical officer within the Diocese of Southwark. As such the deacon is responsible for the disciplinary supervision of the clergy within its five rural deaneries: Croydon Addington, Croydon Central, ...

and the archdeacons of

Wandsworth Wandsworth Town () is a district of south London, within the London Borough of Wandsworth southwest of Charing Cross. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. Toponymy Wandsworth takes its nam ...

and of Lambeth. Each one has responsibility over a geographical area within the diocese.

History

The Diocese of Southwark was created on 1 May 1905 from two

Diocese of Rochester The Diocese of Rochester is a Church of England diocese in the English county of Kent and the Province of Canterbury. The cathedral church of the diocese is Rochester Cathedral in the former city of Rochester. The bishop's Latin episcopal signa ...

archdeaconries: the archdeaconry of Southwark and the archdeaconry of Kingston-on-Thames. Parts of Surrey (from the dioceses of Winchester and of London) had first been transferred to Rochester diocese on 1 August 1877, and were organised into the Southwark archdeaconry on 3 May 1878. In 1864, the Bishop of Winchester had split the

rural deanery In the Roman Catholic Church and the Anglican Communion as well as some Lutheran denominations, a rural dean is a member of clergy who presides over a "rural deanery" (often referred to as a deanery); "ruridecanal" is the corresponding adjectiv ...

of Southwark into three: Lambeth, Southwark, and Streatham. The Kingston archdeaconry was then created by Order in Council soon after, on 22 August 1879, by splitting the archdeaconry of Southwark: the new Kingston archdeaconry consisted of the rural deaneries of Barnes, Beddington, Godstone, Kingston, Reigate, and Streatham; and the continuing Southwark one those of Battersea, Camberwell, Clapham, Kennington, Lambeth, Newington, and Southwark. Lewisham rural deanery was erected, and other deanery boundaries altered, in early 1886. Not long after the erection of the Diocese of Southwark, the new archdeaconry of Lewisham was created, on 6 March 1906, from part of the Southwark archdeaconry (Camberwell and Dulwich deaneries) and part of the diocese not then in an archdeaconry (Greenwich, Lewisham, and Woolwich deaneries; which had previously been in the

Archdeaconry of Rochester The Archdeacon of Rochester is a senior office-holder in the Diocese of Rochester (a division of the Church of England Province of Canterbury.) Like other archdeacons, they are administrators in the diocese at large (having oversight of parishes i ...

). The archdeaconry of Wandsworth was created in 1973, the Croydon archdeaconry (er. 1930) was moved from the

Diocese of Canterbury The Diocese of Canterbury is a Church of England diocese covering East Kent, eastern Kent which was founded by St. Augustine of Canterbury in 597. The diocese is centred on Canterbury Cathedral and is the oldest episcopal see, see of the Church o ...

on 1 January 1985. In 1986, the archdeaconry of Reigate was created from a renaming and reorganisation of the previous archdeaconry of Kingston-on-Thames and the archdeaconry of Lambeth was created from Southwark archdeaconry. Lewisham archdeaconry was renamed the Archdeaconry of Lewisham & Greenwich in 2008.

Current composition

, the six archdeaconries of the Diocese of Southwark comprise the following 24 deaneries: *Archdeaconry of Southwark: Deaneries of Bermondsey, of Camberwell, of Dulwich, and of Southwark & Newington *Archdeaconry of Reigate: Deaneries of Tandridge, of Reigate, and of Sutton *Archdeaconry of Lewisham & Greenwich: Deaneries of Charlton, of Deptford, of East Lewisham, of Eltham & Mottingham, of Plumstead, and of West Lewisham *Archdeaconry of Croydon: Deaneries of Croydon Addington, of Croydon Central, of Croydon North, and of Croydon South *Archdeaconry of Wandsworth: Deaneries of Battersea, of Kingston, of Richmond & Barnes, of Tooting, and of Wandsworth *Archdeaconry of Lambeth: Deaneries of Lambeth North, of Lambeth South, and of Merton

List of archdeacons

Archdeacons of Southwark

*1879–1882 (res.): Samuel Cheetham *1882–19 March 1904 (d.): John Richardson *1904–1921 (res.): Samuel Taylor (also Bishop suffragan of Kingston from 1915) :''On 1 May 1905, Southwark archdeaconry was moved from Rochester diocese to the newly-created Diocese of Southwark.'' *1922–1926 (res.): Percy Herbert, Bishop suffragan of Kingston *1927–1952 (res.):

Frederick Hawkes Frederick Ochterloney Taylor Hawkes (22 November 187826 January 1966) was the fourth Bishop of Kingston. Hawkes was educated at Magdalen College, Oxford and was ordained in 1903. He became a curate at St Mary's Church, Portsea, and the ...

, Bishop suffragan of Kingston *1952–1955 (res.): William Gilpin, Bishop suffragan of Kingston *1955–1966 (ret.):

Havilland Sands Havilland Hubert Allport Sands (26 March 1896 – 22 March 1970) was the Archdeacon of Southwark from 1955 to 1966. Sands was educated at King Edward's School, Birmingham and Oriel College, Oxford. After World War I service with the Royal Warw ...

*1967–1973 (res.):

Reginald Bazire Reginald Victor Bazire (30 January 1900 – 20 October 1990) was an Anglican priest: the Archdeacon of Southwark from 1967 to 1973; and of Wandsworth from 1973 to 1975. Bazire was educated at Christ's Hospital. and in 1922 Bazire went to China ...

*1973–1982 (res.):

Michael Whinney Michael Humphrey Dickens Whinney (8 July 19303 February 2017) was a Church of England bishop who served in two episcopal posts; he was also a great-great-grandson of Charles Dickens. He was born in Chelsea, London on 8 July 1930 and educated at ...

*1982–1985 (res.):

Wilfred Wood Wilfred Wood VC (2 February 1897 – 3 January 1982) was an English recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces. The VC ...

*1985–2004 (ret.):

Douglas Bartles-Smith Douglas Leslie Bartles-Smith (3 June 1937 – 6 June 2014) was an English Anglican priest: he was the Archdeacon of Southwark from 1985 to 2004. Douglas Bartles-Smith was son of Leslie Charles and Muriel Rose Bartles-Smith.Article by Toby N ...

(afterwards archdeacon emeritus) *2004–2012 (res.):

Michael Ipgrave Michael Geoffrey Ipgrave (born 18 April 1958) is a British Anglican bishop. Since 2016, he has been the 99th Bishop of Lichfield, the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Lichfield. He was the Bishop of Woolwich, an area bishop in the Diocese ...

*2012–14 April 2013: ''

Dianna Gwilliams Dianna Lynn Gwilliams DL (born 1957) is the current dean of Guildford. Background Gwilliams was born in Colorado and grew up in California. She was educated at the University of California (BA Physics & Chemistry, 1978) and King's College Lo ...

(Acting)'' *14 April 201323 June 2021: Jane SteenDiocese of Southwark – New Archdeacons installed
(Accessed 9 June 2013) (became Bishop of Lynn) *15 May 2022present: Jonathan Sedgwick (Acting since 13 May 2021)

Archdeacons of Kingston-on-Thames and of Reigate

*1879–1904 (res.): Charles Burney *1904–1916 (res.): George Daniell :''The Archdeaconry of Kingston was moved from Rochester diocese to the newly-created Diocese of Southwark on 1 May 1905.'' *1916–1918 (res.): William Hough *1919–1931 (res.): Robert Joynt *1931–1946 (ret.): George Marten (afterwards archdeacon emeritus) *1946–1952 (ret.): Nicol Anderson (afterwards archdeacon emeritus) *1953–28 November 1976 (d.): Percy Robb *1977–1988 (ret.): Bernard Jacob (afterwards archdeacon emeritus) :''In 1986, the archdeaconry was renamed to Reigate.'' *1988–1995 (ret.): Peter Coombs (afterwards archdeacon emeritus) *1996–2000 (ret.): Martin Baddeley *2001 – 23 February 2016 (ret.): Danny Kajumba (afterwards archdeacon emeritus) *aft. April – bef. July 2015 (Acting): ''Andrew Cunnington'' *autumn–winter 2015 (Acting): ''John Kronenberg'' *winter 2015/2016 – 20 October 2016 (Acting): Jonathan Clark,

Bishop of Croydon The Bishop of Croydon is an episcopal title used by an area bishop of the Church of England Diocese of Southwark, in the Province of Canterbury, England. The Croydon Archdeaconry was transferred from Canterbury Diocese to Southwark in 1984. ...

*30 October 2016 – present: Moira Astin

Archdeacons of Lewisham and of Lewisham & Greenwich

*1906–March 1919 (d.):

Charles Escreet Charles Ernest Escreet (20 February 1852 - 3 March 1919) was an Anglican priest: the Archdeacon of Lewisham from 1906 to 1919. Life Escreet was educated at Tonbridge School and Wadham College, Oxford. He was ordained in 1875 and began his care ...

*1919–1932 (ret.): William Hough, Bishop suffragan of Woolwich *1932–19 July 1936 (d.): Arthur Preston, Bishop suffragan of Woolwich *1936–1947 (res.):

Leslie Lang Leslie Hamilton Lang (27 May 1889 – 12 March 1974) was the fourth Bishop of Woolwich. Biography Born on 27 May 1889 and educated at Repton and Trinity College, Cambridge, he was ordained in 1915. His first post was at St Mary's, Portsea. He was ...

, Bishop suffragan of Woolwich *1947–1955 (res.): Robert Stannard, Bishop suffragan of Woolwich *1955–1960 (res.): Laurie Brown *1960–1972 (ret.): William Hayman *1972–1985 (ret.): Ivor Davies (afterwards archdeacon emeritus) *1985–1989 (ret.): Clifford Lacey (afterwards archdeacon emeritus)(1 April 1921 – 16 February 1997) ; wartime service

RAFVR The Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve (RAFVR) was established in 1936 to support the preparedness of the U.K. Royal Air Force in the event of another war. The Air Ministry intended it to form a supplement to the Royal Auxiliary Air Force (RAuxAF) ...

; educated at King's College London;

curacies A curate () is a person who is invested with the ''care'' or ''cure'' (''cura'') ''of souls'' of a parish. In this sense, "curate" means a parish priest; but in English-speaking countries the term ''curate'' is commonly used to describe clergy ...

Crofton Park Crofton Park is a mainly residential suburb and electoral ward in the London Borough of Lewisham. It is the original site of the former agricultural hamlet of Brockley. It is located south east of Charing Cross, and is south of Brockley and ...

Kingston upon Thames Kingston upon Thames (hyphenated until 1965, colloquially known as Kingston) is a town in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, southwest London, England. It is situated on the River Thames and southwest of Charing Cross. It is notable ...

; incumbencies, Merton,

Eltham Eltham ( ) is a district of southeast London, England, within the Royal Borough of Greenwich. It is east-southeast of Charing Cross, and is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. The three wards of E ...

*1989–1996 (res.):

Gordon Kuhrt Gordon Wilfred Kuhrt (born 15 February 1941) is an Anglican priest and author. He was the Archdeacon of Lewisham from 1989 to 1996. He has served a member of the General Synod of the Church of England from 1986 to 1996. Afterwards, he was Directo ...

(afterwards archdeacon emeritus) *1996–2001 (res.): David Atkinson *September 2001–30 November 2012 (ret.):

Christine Hardman Christine Elizabeth Hardman ( Atkins; born 27 August 1951) is a retired British Anglican bishop and former Lord Spiritual. She served as Archdeacon of Lewisham, 2001–2008; Archdeacon of Lewisham & Greenwich, 2008–2012; and Bishop of ...

(afterwards archdeacon emeritus) :''In 2008, the archdeaconry was renamed Lewisham & Greenwich.'' *14 April 2013–present: Alastair Cutting

Archdeacons of Croydon An archdeacon is a senior clergy position in the Church of the East, Chaldean Catholic Church, Syriac Orthodox Church, Anglican Communion, St Thomas Christians, Eastern Orthodox churches and some other Christian denominations, above that of mos ...

Archdeacons of Wandsworth

*1973–1975 (ret.): Reginald Bazire *1975–1988 (res.): Peter Coombs *1989–2004 (ret.): David Gerrard (afterwards archdeacon emeritus) *2004–before September 2015: Stephen Roberts *22 July–22 November 2015 (Acting): ''Tim Marwood'' *22 November 2015–present: John KiddleDiocese of Southwark — New faces in Southwark
(Accessed 27 November 2015)

Archdeacons of Lambeth

*1986–1988 (ret.):

Charles Pinder Charles Pinder was an Anglican priest in the 20th century. He was born on 5 May 1921, educated at Selwyn College, Cambridge, and King's College London (AKC), and ordained in 1951. After a curacy at St Saviour's Raynes Park he was the vicar of ...

(afterwards archdeacon emeritus) *1988–1999 (res.):

Dick Bird Colin Richard Bateman Bird was an Anglican priest in the late 20th and early 21st centuries. He was born on 31 March 1933, educated at Selwyn College, Cambridge, and ordained in 1958. His first posts were curacies at St Mark's Cathedral, ...

*2000–2003 (res.): Nick Baines *2004–14 April 2013 (res.): Chris Skilton *2013–present: Simon GatesDiocese of Southwark – New Archdeacon of Lambeth
*20182 September 2018: David Stephenson (Acting)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Southwark, Archdeacons in the Diocese of Lists of Anglicans Lists of English people