The Diocese of Southwell and Nottingham 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 ...

, headed by the Bishop of Southwell and Nottingham. It covers all the English county of

Nottinghamshire Nottinghamshire (; abbreviated Notts.) is a landlocked county in the East Midlands region of England, bordering South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west. The traditi ...

and a few parishes in

South Yorkshire South Yorkshire is a ceremonial and metropolitan county in the Yorkshire and Humber Region of England. The county has four council areas which are the cities of Doncaster and Sheffield as well as the boroughs of Barnsley and Rotherham. In N ...

. It is bordered by the dioceses of Derby, Leicester, Lincoln and Sheffield. The cathedral,

Southwell Minster Southwell Minster () is a minster and cathedral in Southwell, Nottinghamshire, England. It is situated miles from Newark-on-Trent and from Mansfield. It is the seat of the Bishop of Southwell and Nottingham and the Diocese of Southwell and N ...

, is in the town of Southwell, 15 miles (24 km) north of Nottingham.

History

Until 2005 the diocese was named simply Southwell, but in February the diocesan

synod A synod () is a council of a Christian denomination, usually convened to decide an issue of doctrine, administration or application. The word ''wikt:synod, synod'' comes from the meaning "assembly" or "meeting" and is analogous with the Latin ...

requested a change of name, which was approved by the

General Synod of the Church of England The General Synod is the tricameral deliberative and legislative organ of the Church of England. The synod was instituted in 1970, replacing the Church Assembly, and is the culmination of a process of rediscovering self-government for the Church ...

in July and by the

Privy Council A privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a state, typically, but not always, in the context of a monarchic government. The word "privy" means "private" or "secret"; thus, a privy council was originally a committee of the mon ...

on 15 November 2005. The present territory of the diocese was originally the Archdeaconry of Nottingham in the

Diocese of York The Diocese of York is an administrative division of the Church of England, part of the Province of York. It covers the city of York, the eastern part of North Yorkshire, and most of the East Riding of Yorkshire. The diocese is headed by the A ...

, before it was moved in 1837 to the Diocese of Lincoln (so switching from the Province of York to the

Province of Canterbury The Province of Canterbury, or less formally the Southern Province, is one of two ecclesiastical provinces which constitute the Church of England. The other is the Province of York (which consists of 12 dioceses). Overview The Province consist ...

). On 5 February 1884 it was taken from Lincoln and united with the archdeaconry of Derby (covering, roughly,

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands, England. It includes much of the Peak District National Park, the southern end of the Pennine range of hills and part of the National Forest. It borders Greater Manchester to the nor ...

), which was taken from the

Diocese of Lichfield The Diocese of Lichfield is a Church of England diocese in the Province of Canterbury, England. The bishop's seat is located in the Cathedral Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary and Saint Chad in the city of Lichfield. The diocese covers of seve ...

. The two then formed a new Diocese of Southwell, which covered Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire. The

Diocese of Derby The Diocese of Derby is a Church of England diocese in the Province of Canterbury, roughly covering the same area as the County of Derbyshire. Its diocesan bishop is the Bishop of Derby whose seat ( cathedra) is at Derby Cathedral. The diocesa ...

became separate on 7 July 1927; Southwell and Nottingham is once again in the Province of York (since 25 October 1935, according to the Diocese of Southwell (Transfer) Measure, 1935).Young's ''Local Administrative Units of England''.

Bishops

The diocesan bishop is Paul Williams, assisted by

Andy Emerton Andrew Neil Emerton (born 1972) is a British Anglican bishop. Since September 2020, he has been Bishop of Sherwood in the Church of England. Early life and education Emerton grew up in Guilden Sutton near Chester, Cheshire. He studied at the Un ...

, the Bishop suffragan of Sherwood, whose See of Sherwood was created in 1965.

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 the few parishes in the diocese which do not receive the ministry of priests who are women) is provided by a

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. Today the bishop's residence and office, the diocesan offices and the cathedral all remain in Southwell.

Archdeaconries and deaneries

List of churches in the diocese

Closed churches are listed in ''italics''.

References

Church of England Statistics 2002

External links