The Diocese of Norwich is an ecclesiastical jurisdiction or

diocese In 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 provinces were administratively associa ...

of 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 ...

that forms part of the Province of Canterbury in

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 ...

History

It traces its roots in an unbroken line to the diocese of the

Bishop of the East Angles The Bishop of Dunwich is an episcopal title which was first used by an Anglo-Saxon bishop between the seventh and ninth centuries and is currently used by the suffragan bishop of the Diocese of St Edmundsbury and Ipswich. The title takes its n ...

founded in 630. In common with many Anglo-Saxon bishoprics it moved, in this case to

Elmham North Elmham is a village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. It covers an area of and had a population of 1,428 in 624 households at the 2001 census, including Gateley and increasing slightly to 1,433 at the 2011 Census. For ...

in 673. After the Norman invasion it moved to

Thetford Thetford is a market town and civil parish in the Breckland District of Norfolk, England. It is on the A11 road between Norwich and London, just east of Thetford Forest. The civil parish, covering an area of , in 2015 had a population of 24, ...

in 1070 finally moving to

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 ...

in 1094. It covers 573 parishes with 656 churches covering all of the county of

Norfolk Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the No ...

save for the extreme west beyond the River Great Ouse that is part of the diocese of Ely. It includes the deanery of

Lothingland Lothingland is an area in the English counties of Suffolk and Norfolk on the North Sea coast. It is bound by the River Yare and Breydon Water to the north, the River Waveney to the west and Oulton Broad to the south, and includes the parts of Lo ...

(the port of Lowestoft and its immediate hinterland) in the county of Suffolk. This totals an area over with a population (2008) of some 867,000. Like most older dioceses, the territory has been gradually reduced. Until the formation of the

Diocese of St Edmundsbury and Ipswich The Diocese of St Edmundsbury and Ipswich is a Church of England diocese based in Ipswich, covering Suffolk (excluding Lowestoft). The cathedral is St Edmundsbury Cathedral, and the bishop is the Bishop of St Edmundsbury and Ipswich. It is part ...

in 1914, Suffolk was included, and earlier other areas.

Organisation

Bishops

The

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 ...

( Graham Usher) leads the diocese and is assisted by two suffragan bishops, the

Bishop of Thetford The Bishop of Thetford is an episcopal title which takes its name after the market town of Thetford in Norfolk, England. The title was originally used by the Normans in the 11th century, and is now used by a Church of England suffragan bishop. ...

( Alan Winton) and the Bishop of Lynn ( Jane Steen). The suffragan sees of Ipswich and of Thetford were both created by the

Suffragan Bishops Act 1534 The Suffragan Bishops Act 1534 (26 Hen 8 c 14) is an Act of the Parliament of England that authorised the appointment of suffragan (i.e., assistant) bishops in England and Wales. The tradition of appointing suffragans named after a town in the d ...

but went into abeyance after one incumbent; Thetford was next filled in 1894 and Ipswich in 1899. The See of Ipswich has been in abeyance since before the diocesan see including that city's name was created; a new second suffragan see – of Lynn – was therefore founded in 1963.

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 which do not accept the ordination of women as priests) 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 ...

, Norman Banks, Bishop suffragan of Richborough, who is licensed as an honorary assistant bishop of the diocese to facilitate his ministry. There are also seven retired bishops living in the diocese who are licensed as

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 ...

s: *2000–present: Malcolm Menin, retired Bishop suffragan of Knaresborough, lives in Lakenham. *2001–present: Richard Garrard, retired Director of the

Anglican Centre in Rome Anglican Centre in Rome is an ecumenical organisation which is dedicated to improving relations between the Anglican Communion and the Roman Catholic Church. It was founded in 1966 with the encouragement of Michael Ramsey, Archbishop of Canter ...

& Archbishop's Representative to the Holy See and former Bishop of Penrith, lives in Upper Stoke and is also licensed in the

Diocese in Europe The Diocese in Europe (short form for the Diocese of Gibraltar in Europe) is a diocese of the Church of England. It was originally formed in 1842 as the Diocese of Gibraltar. It is geographically the largest diocese of the Church of England and th ...

. *2003–present: David Leake, retired Bishop of Argentina and former Presiding Bishop in the Southern Cone, lives in East Runton. *2004–present: Tony Foottit, retired Bishop suffragan of Lynn, lives in Reepham. *2006–present: Peter Fox, former Bishop of Port Moresby,

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea (abbreviated PNG; , ; tpi, Papua Niugini; ho, Papua Niu Gini), officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea ( tpi, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niugini; ho, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niu Gini), is a country i ...

is Vicar of the Lakenham Group. *2008–present:

David Gillett David Keith Gillett (born 25 January 1945) is a British Anglican bishop. From 1988 to 1999, he was Principal of Trinity College, Bristol, an Anglican theological college. From 1999 to 2008, he was the Bishop of Bolton, a suffragan bishop in t ...

, retired Bishop suffragan of Bolton, lives in Diss. *2009–present:

Lindsay Urwin Lindsay Goodall Urwin OGS (born 13 March 1956) is an Australian Anglican bishop. Urwin was the area Bishop of Horsham in the Diocese of Chichester, in southern England, from 1993 to 2009, and was also the principal organiser of the annual Caist ...

, Administrator of the Shrine of

Our Lady of Walsingham Our Lady of Walsingham is a title of Mary, mother of Jesus venerated by Catholics, Western Rite Orthodox Christians, and some Anglicans associated with the Marian apparitions to Richeldis de Faverches, a pious English noblewoman, in 1061 in t ...

, is a former area Bishop of Horsham. He is also licensed in Ely,

Peterborough Peterborough () is a cathedral city in Cambridgeshire, east of England. It is the largest part of the City of Peterborough unitary authority district (which covers a larger area than Peterborough itself). It was part of Northamptonshire until ...

and

Chichester Chichester () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and civil parish in West Sussex, England.OS Explorer map 120: Chichester, South Harting and Selsey Scale: 1:25 000. Publisher:Ordnance Survey – Southampton B2 edition. Publi ...

dioceses.

Archdeaconries and deaneries

The former deaneries of Ingworth and Sparham were combined in 2018. The deaneries of St Benet at Waxham and Tunstead were combined in 1996. The deanery of Hingham and Mitford was split between the deaneries of Dereham and Humbleyard in 1995. *including Cathedral **including Walsingham Shrine

Churches

''Last fully updated 9 October 2018.''

Not in a deanery

Deanery of Norwich East

Deanery of Norwich North

Deanery of Norwich South

Deanery of Blofield

Deanery of Depwade

Deanery of Great Yarmouth

Deanery of Humbleyard

Deanery of Loddon

Deanery of Lothingland

Deanery of Redenhal

Deanery of St Benet at Waxham & Tunstead

Deanery of Thetford & Rockland

Deanery of Breckland

Deanery of Burnham & Walsingham

Deanery of Dereham in Mitford

Deanery of Heacham & Rising

Deanery of Holt

Deanery of Ingworth and Sparham

Deanery of Lynn

Deanery of Repps

Dedications

This table is drawn from the above lists. More than half of the churches in the diocese have just four dedications: St Mary, St Andrew, All Saints and St Peter.

References

Church of England Statistics

External links

*
Churches in the Diocese of Norwich ("A Church Near You")
{{authority control 630 establishments

Religion in Norfolk Norwich