The Diocese of Manchester is a

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 Britain ...

diocese In Ecclesiastical polity, church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided Roman province, pro ...

in the

Province of York The Province of York, or less formally the Northern Province, is one of two ecclesiastical provinces making up the Church of England and consists of 12 dioceses which cover the northern third of England and the Isle of Man. York was elevated to ...

, England. Based in the city of

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

, the diocese covers much of the county of

Greater Manchester Greater Manchester is a metropolitan county and combined authority, combined authority area in North West England, with a population of 2.8 million; comprising ten metropolitan boroughs: City of Manchester, Manchester, City of Salford, Salford ...

and small areas of the counties of

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancashi ...

and

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a ceremonial and historic county in North West England, bordered by Wales to the west, Merseyside and Greater Manchester to the north, Derbyshire to the east, and Staffordshire and Shropshire to the south. Cheshire's county t ...

History

After passage of the Bishopric of Manchester Act 1847, the Diocese of Manchester was founded on 1 September 1847, having previously been part of the

Diocese of Chester The Diocese of Chester is a Church of England diocese in the Province of York covering the pre-1974 county of Cheshire and therefore including the Wirral and parts of Stockport, Trafford and Tameside. History Ancient diocese Before the si ...

. The diocese was founded in accordance with the Third Report of the

Ecclesiastical Commissioners The Ecclesiastical Commissioners were, in England and Wales, a body corporate, whose full title was Ecclesiastical and Church Estates Commissioners for England. The commissioners were authorized to determine the distribution of revenues of the Chu ...

, appointed to consider the state of the Established Church in England and Wales, printed in 1836. It recommended the formation of the Bishopric of Manchester, and the Ecclesiastical Commissioners Act 1836 (6 and 7 William IV cap. 77) was passed that year whereby the King, by

Order-in-Council An Order-in-Council is a type of legislation in many countries, especially the Commonwealth realms. In the United Kingdom this legislation is formally made in the name of the monarch by and with the advice and consent of the Privy Council (''Kin ...

was empowered to carry into effect the recommendations of the commissioners. It provided that the sees of

St. Asaph St Asaph (; cy, Llanelwy "church on the Elwy") is a city and community on the River Elwy in Denbighshire, Wales. In the 2011 Census it had a population of 3,355, making it the second-smallest city in Britain in terms of population and urban ...

and Bangor should be united on the next vacancy in either, and on that occurring the Bishop of Manchester should be created. The union of the sees never took place and the Bishopric of Manchester Act 1847 was brought forward which authorised the

to bring forward an alternative reorganisation scheme in Chambers which received royal assent and the bishopric was constituted. The diocese on its creation in 1847 originally covered the historic hundreds of

Salford Salford () is a city and the largest settlement in the City of Salford metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. In 2011, Salford had a population of 103,886. It is also the second and only other city in the metropolitan county afte ...

Blackburn Blackburn () is an industrial town and the administrative centre of the Blackburn with Darwen borough in Lancashire, England. The town is north of the West Pennine Moors on the southern edge of the Ribble Valley, east of Preston and north-n ...

, Leyland and

Amounderness The Amounderness Hundred () is one of the six subdivisions of the historic county of Lancashire in North West England, but the name is older than the system of hundreds first recorded in the 13th century and might best be described as the name ...

and the Parish of Leigh, which lay in the hundred of

West Derby West Derby ( ) is an affluent suburb of Liverpool, England. It is located East of the city and is also a Liverpool City Council ward. At the 2011 Census, the population was 14,382. History West Derby Mentioned in the ''Domesday Book'', West ...

. However, with the creation of the

Diocese of Blackburn The Diocese of Blackburn is a Church of England diocese, covering much of Lancashire, created on 12 November 1926 from part of the Diocese of Manchester. The diocese includes the towns of Blackburn, Blackpool and Burnley, the cities of Lancast ...

in 1926, which took the three northern hundreds, Manchester was left with just the hundred of Salford and Leigh. The final boundary change to the diocese was in 1933, by annexing

Wythenshawe Wythenshawe () is a district of the city of Manchester, England. Historic counties of England, Historically in Cheshire, Wythenshawe was transferred in 1931 to the City of Manchester, which had begun building a massive housing estate there in the ...

from the

.Manchester and its many bishops
''BBC''. Retrieved 17 February 2009. At the same time the diocese was founded, the

collegiate church In Christianity, a collegiate church is a church where the daily office of worship is maintained by a college of canons: a non-monastic or "secular" community of clergy, organised as a self-governing corporate body, which may be presided over by a ...

in Manchester was elevated to

cathedral A cathedral is a church that contains the '' cathedra'' () of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually specific to those Christian denomination ...

status to become the Cathedral Church of St Mary, St Denys and St George where the bishop's throne (''

cathedra A ''cathedra'' is the raised throne of a bishop in the early Christian basilica. When used with this meaning, it may also be called the bishop's throne. With time, the related term ''cathedral'' became synonymous with the "seat", or principa ...

'') is located.

Organisation

Bishops

The diocesan Bishop of Manchester, David Walker, is the ordinary of the diocese and is assisted by Mark Davies, Bishop suffragan of Middleton, and

Mark Ashcroft Mark David Ashcroft (born 3 September 1954) is a British Anglican bishop. Since 2016, he has been the Bishop of Bolton. He had previously been Archdeacon of Manchester from 2009 to 2016. Apart from ten years working in Kenya, he has spent all hi ...

, Bishop suffragan of Bolton. The Bishop of Middleton oversees the archdeaconries of Manchester and Rochdale, and the Bishop of Bolton the archdeaconries of Bolton and Salford.

Alternative episcopal oversight A provincial episcopal visitor (PEV), popularly known as a flying bishop, is a Church of England bishop assigned to minister to many of the clergy, laity and parishes who on grounds of theological conviction, "are unable to receive the ministry of ...

(for parishes in the diocese who reject the ministry of priests who are women) is provided by the

provincial episcopal visitor A provincial episcopal visitor (PEV), popularly known as a flying bishop, is a Church of England bishop assigned to minister to many of the clergy, laity and parishes who on grounds of theological conviction, "are unable to receive the ministry of ...

(PEV) the Bishop suffragan of Beverley,

Glyn Webster Glyn Hamilton Webster (born 3 June 1951) is a retired British Anglican bishop who was the Bishop of Beverley in the Church of England from 2013 to January 2022. He was previously the canon chancellor (a canon residentiary) and Acting Dean of York ...

. He is licensed as an

honorary assistant bishop An assistant bishop in the Anglican Communion is a bishop appointed to assist a diocesan bishop. Church of England In the established Church of England, assistant bishops are usually retired (diocesan or suffragan) bishops – in which case they ...

of the diocese in order to facilitate his work there. Besides Webster, there are four retired honorary assistant bishops licensed in the diocese: *1999–present: Frank Sargeant, former

Bishop at Lambeth The Bishop to the Archbishops of Canterbury and York is a position within the hierarchy of the Church of England. It is a non-diocesan appointment in which a bishop acts as head of staff or general assistant to the Archbishop of Canterbury and to ...

lives in

(and is also licensed in

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

.) *2008–present:

Rupert Hoare Rupert William Noel Hoare (born 3 March 1940) is a former dean of Liverpool and Anglican area bishop of Dudley. Hoare was born in Sussex and attended the Dragon School in Oxford before attending Rugby School. Upon completing his secondary educati ...

, former area

Bishop of Dudley The Bishop of Dudley is an episcopal title used by a suffragan bishop of the Church of England Diocese of Worcester, in the Province of Canterbury, England. The title takes its name after the town of Dudley in the West Midlands; the See was er ...

, lives in Friezeland. *2011–present:

Graham Dow Geoffrey Graham Dow (born 4 July 1942) is a retired British Anglican bishop. He was the Bishop of Carlisle from 2000 to 2009, the 66th holder of the office. He is a well-known Evangelical. Early life Born in 1942, in Edmonton, London, Dow was ed ...

, a retired

Bishop of Carlisle The Bishop of Carlisle is the Ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Carlisle in the Province of York. The diocese covers the county of Cumbria except for Alston Moor and the former Sedbergh Rural District. The see is in the city of Car ...

, lives in

Romiley Romiley is a village in the Metropolitan Borough of Stockport, Greater Manchester, England. Historically part of Cheshire, it borders Marple, Bredbury and Woodley. At the 2011 census, the Romiley ward, which includes Compstall, Bredbury Green an ...

in the neighbouring

, where he is also licensed as an HAB. *2012–present: retired former

Bishop of Sheffield The Bishop of Sheffield is the Ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Sheffield in the Province of York. A similar title was first created as a suffragan see in the Diocese of York in 1901. John Quirk, the only Bishop suffragan of Shef ...

Jack Nicholls John Nicholls (born 16 July 1943) is a British Anglican bishop who was formerly the Bishop of Sheffield. Early life and education Nicholls was born on 16 July 1943, the son of James and Nellie Nicholls. He was educated at Bacup and Rawtenstall ...

lives in, and is also licensed in, neighbouring Derby diocese.

Archdeaconries and deaneries

The diocese is divided into four

archdeacon 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 ...

ries, each divided into a number of

deaneries A deanery (or decanate) is an ecclesiastical entity in the Roman Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Anglican Communion, the Evangelical Church in Germany, and the Church of Norway. A deanery is either the jurisdiction or residenc ...

. Archdeaconry of Manchester (created 1843) Archdeaconry of Rochdale (created 1910) Archdeaconry of Bolton (created 1982) Archdeaconry of Salford (created 2009) The first Archdeacon of Salford, from 2009 until 1 July 2020, was

David Sharples David Sharples AKC (born 17 March 1958) is the current Archdeacon of Rochdale and former Archdeacon of Salford. He was educated at King's College London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public research universit ...

. He was succeeded by Jean Burgess, who remains also Archdeacon of Bolton.
&

/ref>

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Anglican Diocese Of Manchester 1847 establishments in England Anglican dioceses established in the 19th century

Religious organizations established in 1847