The Dean of Norwich is the head of the Chapter of

Norwich Cathedral Norwich Cathedral is an Anglican cathedral in Norwich, Norfolk, dedicated to the Holy and Undivided Trinity. It is the cathedral church for the Church of England Diocese of Norwich and is one of the Norwich 12 heritage sites. The cathedra ...

Norwich Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. Norwich is by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. As the seat of the See of Norwich, with ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. The role is vacant since

Jane Hedges Jane Barbara Hedges (born 6 April 1956) is a British Anglican priest. Considered a "trailblazer for women in the priesthood",

' retirement on 1 May 2022.

List of deans

Early modern

*1538–1539

William Castleton The Castleton Baronetcy, of St Edmundsbury in the County of Suffolk, was a title in the Baronetage of England. It was created on 9 August 1641 for William Castleton, High Sheriff of Suffolk from 1641 to 1642. The second Baronet was High Sheriff of ...

(last prior) *1539–1554 John Salisbury ''(deprived)'' *1554–1557 John Christopherson (afterwards

Bishop of Chichester The Bishop of Chichester is the ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Chichester in the Province of Canterbury. The diocese covers the counties of East and West Sussex. The see is based in the City of Chichester where the bishop's sea ...

, 1557) *1557–1558

John Boxall John Boxall (died 1571) was an English churchman and secretary of state to Mary I of England. Catholic statesman He was a native of Bramshott in Hampshire. After studying at Winchester School he was admitted a perpetual fellow of New College, ...

(also

Dean of Windsor The Dean of Windsor is the spiritual head of the canons of St George's Chapel at Windsor Castle, England. The dean chairs meetings of the Chapter of Canons as ''primus inter pares''. The post of Dean of Wolverhampton was assimilated to the dea ...

, 1557–59 and

Dean of Peterborough The Dean of Peterborough is the head of the chapter at Peterborough Cathedral. On the Dissolution of Peterborough Abbey in 1539 and the abbey-church's refoundation as a cathedral for the new bishop and diocese of Peterborough, care for the abbey ...

, 1557–1559) ''(deprived)'' *1558–1559 John Harpsfield (also Archdeacon of London, 1554–1559) ''(deprived)'' *1560–1573 John Salisbury ''(restored)'' *1573–1589 George Gardiner *1589–1601 Thomas Dove (afterwards Bishop of Peterborough, 1601) *1601–1603

John Jegon John Jegon (1550 – 13 March 1618) was an English academic and Bishop of Norwich. He supported uniformity of Anglican doctrine and worship, and strong government. This led him into conflict with John Robinson, later pastor to the ''Mayflower'' ...

(afterwards

Bishop of Norwich The Bishop of Norwich is the ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Norwich in the Province of Canterbury. The diocese covers most of the county of Norfolk and part of Suffolk. The bishop of Norwich is Graham Usher. The see is in t ...

, 1603) *1603–1614 George Montgomery (afterwards

Bishop of Raphoe The Bishop of Raphoe ( ) is an episcopal title which takes its name after the town of Raphoe in County Donegal, Ireland. In the Roman Catholic Church it remains a separate title, but in the Church of Ireland it has been united with another bis ...

, 1605) *1614–1628 Edmund Suckling *1628–1654 John Hassal ''(deprived – Commonwealth)'' *1660–1670

John Crofts John Crofts was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons in 1653 and in 1656. He fought in the Parliamentary army in the English Civil War. Crofts was of Nether Swell, near Stow-on-the-Wold, Gloucestershire. His origins are obsc ...

*1670–1681 Herbert Astley *1681–1689 John Sharp (afterwards

Dean of Canterbury The Dean of Canterbury is the head of the Chapter of the Cathedral of Christ Church, Canterbury, England. The current office of Dean originated after the English Reformation, although Deans had also existed before this time; its immediate precur ...

, 1689) *1689–1702 Henry Fairfax *1702–1714

Humphrey Prideaux Humphrey Prideaux (3 May 1648 – 1 November 1724) was a Cornish churchman and orientalist, Dean of Norwich from 1702. His sympathies inclined to Low Churchism in religion and to Whiggism in politics. Life The third son of Edmond Prideaux, he wa ...

*1724–1730

Thomas Cole Thomas Cole was an English-born American artist and the founder of the Hudson River School art movement. Cole is widely regarded as the first significant American landscape painter. He was known for his romantic landscape and history painti ...

*1731–1733 Robert Butts (afterwards

, 1733) *1733–1739 John Baron *1739–1761 Thomas Bullock *1761–1765 Hon. Edward Townshend *1765–1790

Philip Lloyd Philip Lloyd (died 1735), of Grosvenor Street, Westminster, and Bardwin, Northumberland, was a British Army officer and politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1723 and 1735. Lloyd was a Captain in Colonel Lucas's Foot in 1715. He wa ...

Late modern

Edward Meyrick Goulburn by George Richmond - 7565

*1790–1828 Joseph Turner *1828–1866

George Pellew George Pellew (1793–1866) was an English churchman and theologian, Dean of Norwich from 1828 to 1866. Life He was third son of Edward Pellew, 1st Viscount Exmouth and his wife Susan Pellew (''nee'' Frowde) and was born at Flushing, Cornwall, i ...

*1866–1889 Meyrick Goulburn *1889–1909 William Lefroy *1909–1911 Henry Wakefield (afterwards

Bishop of Birmingham A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

, 1911) *1911–1919 Henry Beeching *1919–1927 John Willink *1927–1946 David Cranage *1946–1952 St Barbe Holland *1953–1969 Norman Hook *1970–1978 Alan Webster (afterwards

Dean of St Paul's The dean of St Paul's is a member of, and chair of the Chapter of St Paul's Cathedral in London in the Church of England. The dean of St Paul's is also ''ex officio'' dean of the Order of the British Empire. The current dean is Andrew Tremlett, ...

, 1978) *1978–1983 David Edwards (afterwards Provost of Southwark, 1983) *1983–1995 Paul Burbridge *1995–2003

Stephen Platten Stephen George PlattenFSA(born 17 May 1947, in Southgate) is a retired Anglican bishop. He was the last diocesan Bishop of Wakefield in the Church of England. He was consecrated in this role on 19 July 2003 and immediately prior to that was Dea ...

(afterwards

Bishop of Wakefield The Bishop of Wakefield is an Episcopal polity, episcopal title which takes its name after the City status in the United Kingdom, city of Wakefield in West Yorkshire, England. The title was first created for a Diocese, diocesan Anglican minist ...

, 2003) *2004–29 September 2013 (ret.) Graham Smith *21 June 20141 May 2022 (ret.):

Jane Hedges Jane Barbara Hedges (born 6 April 1956) is a British Anglican priest. Considered a "trailblazer for women in the priesthood",

*28 January 2023 onwards (announced): Andrew Braddock

Sources

British History Online – An Essay towards a Topographical History of the County of Norfolk: Volume 3: The History of the City and County of Norwich, Part I – Deans of NorwichBritish History Online – Fasti Ecclesiae Anglicanae 1541–1857 – Deans of Norwich

References

{{Deans of Norwich in the modern era Norwich

Dean of Norwich The Dean of Norwich is the head of the Chapter of Norwich Cathedral in Norwich, England. The role is vacant since Jane Hedges' retirement on 1 May 2022. List of deans Early modern *1538–1539 William Castleton (last prior) *1539–1554 J ...