The Bishop of Oxford is the diocesan bishop 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 ...

Diocese of Oxford The Diocese of Oxford is a Church of England diocese that forms part of the Province of Canterbury. The diocese is led by the Bishop of Oxford (currently Steven Croft), and the bishop's seat is at Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford. It contain ...

in the Province of Canterbury; his seat is at

Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford Christ Church Cathedral is the cathedral of the Anglican diocese of Oxford, which consists of the counties of Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire and Berkshire. It is also the chapel of Christ Church, a college of the University of Oxford. This dual r ...

. The current bishop is Steven Croft, following the confirmation of his

election An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has opera ...

to the See on 6 July 2016.Diocese of Oxford — Legal ceremony brings Bishop Steven a step closer
&
Diocese of Oxford — Letter from Bishop Steven
(Both Retrieved 8 July 2016) The Bishop of Oxford has authority throughout the diocese, but also has primary responsibility for the city and suburbs of Oxford, which form the Archdeaconry of Oxford. From 1636 the Bishop was housed in the purpose-built

Cuddesdon Palace Cuddesdon Palace was the episcopal palace for the Bishop of Oxford, located near the village of Cuddesdon, Oxfordshire, England. History Cuddesdon Palace was completed by 1634 for John Bancroft, who was Bishop of Oxford from 1632 until 1641. In ...

History

The origins of Christianity in this part of England go back at least to the 7th century, when Saint Birinus brought his mission to the West Saxons in 634. The West Saxon King

Cynegils Cynegils () was King of Wessex from c. 611 to c. 642. Cynegils is traditionally considered to have been King of Wessex, but the familiar kingdoms of the so-called Heptarchy had not yet formed from the patchwork of smaller kingdoms in his life ...

was baptised in the River Thames near the present site of

Dorchester Abbey The Abbey Church of St Peter and St Paul, more usually called Dorchester Abbey, is a Church of England parish church in Dorchester on Thames, Oxfordshire, about southeast of Oxford. It was formerly a Norman abbey church and was built on the ...

, where the original See was established. The see was transferred in 1092 to Winchester, before being absorbed into the Diocese of Lincoln, the vast extent of which covered much of central and eastern England from the

River Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after the R ...

to the

Humber The Humber is a large tidal estuary on the east coast of Northern England. It is formed at Trent Falls, Faxfleet, by the confluence of the tidal rivers Ouse and Trent. From there to the North Sea, it forms part of the boundary between t ...

. King Henry VIII, acting now as head of the Church in England, established by Act of Parliament in 1542 six new dioceses, mostly out of the spoils of the suppressed monasteries. These six were Bristol, Chester, Gloucester, Oxford, Peterborough and Westminster. This intervention by Henry VIII saw a new see located at

Osney Osney or Osney Island (; an earlier spelling of the name is ''Oseney'') is a riverside community in the west of the city of Oxford, England. In modern times the name is applied to a community also known as Osney Town astride Botley Road, just we ...

in Oxfordshire in 1542 before finally being moved to its present location in the City of

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

in 1546. While the city gained prosperity from the accession of thousands of students, it was never, apart from the university, again prominent in history until the seventeenth century, when it became the headquarters of the Royalist party, and again the meeting-place of Parliament. The city of Oxford showed its Hanoverian sympathies long before the university, and feeling between them ran high in consequence. The area and population of the city remained almost stationary until about 1830, but since then it has grown rapidly.

Modern bishopric

The modern diocese covers the counties of Oxfordshire, Berkshire, and Buckinghamshire, with parishes also in

Bedfordshire Bedfordshire (; abbreviated Beds) is a ceremonial county in the East of England. The county has been administered by three unitary authorities, Borough of Bedford, Central Bedfordshire and Borough of Luton, since Bedfordshire County Council ...

, Gloucestershire,

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English cities on its south coast, Southampton and Portsmouth, Hampshire ...

, Hertfordshire, and

Warwickshire Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, and the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare at Stratford-upon-Av ...

. The see is in the City of Oxford where the seat is located at the Cathedral Church of Christ which was elevated to cathedral status in 1546, and which (uniquely among English dioceses) is also the chapel of Christ Church, Oxford. The Oxford diocese at the present day contains the greatest number of parishes of any diocese on England (621) and also the most church buildings (815), of which 475 are grade 1 or 2*

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

s. Croft is the first to reside at the new Bishop's Lodge,

Kidlington Kidlington is a major village and civil parish in Oxfordshire, England, between the River Cherwell and the Oxford Canal, north of Oxford and 7 miles (12 km) south-west of Bicester. It remains officially a village despite its size. The 20 ...

; "for decades" previously, bishops had resided at

Linton Road Linton Road is a road in North Oxford, England. Location At the western end is the Banbury Road. At the eastern end is Wolfson College, a graduate college of the University of Oxford. To the north at the eastern end, Garford Road runs para ...

in North Oxford. Each bishop signs ''+ Christian name Oxon:''; e.g. ''+ Steven Oxon:''.

List of bishops

List of the Bishops of Oxford, and its precursor offices. (Dates in italics indicate ''de facto ''continuation of office)

Assistant bishops

Among those who have served the diocese as stipendiary (i.e. not retired) Assistant Bishops have been: *19211936 (ret.): Edward Shaw, Archdeacon of Oxford and canon residentiary of Christ Church; former Bishop suffragan of Buckingham *19361939: Gerald Allen, Archdeacon of Oxford and Canon of Christ Church, former

Bishop of Sherborne The Bishop of Sherborne is an episcopal title which takes its name from the market town of Sherborne in Dorset, England. The see of Sherborne was established in around 705 by St Aldhelm, the Abbot of Malmesbury. This see was the mother diocese of ...

(became first Bishop suffragan of Dorchester) *19471952 (ret.):

Roscow Shedden Roscow George Shedden (13 May 1882 – 11 December 1956) was an Anglican colonial bishop in the first half of the 20th century. Born into the family of Sir George Shedden of Paulespury Park, at East Cowes he was educated at Twyford School, Winc ...

, Vicar of

Wantage Wantage () is a historic market town and civil parish in Oxfordshire, England. Although within the boundaries of the historic county of Berkshire, it has been administered as part of the Vale of White Horse district of Oxfordshire since 1974. T ...

and former Bishop of Nassau *late 19511963 (d.):

Vibert Jackson The Rt Revd Dr Vibert Jackson was a Colonial Anglican Bishop in the Windward Islands from 1930 until 1936. He was born in 1874 and educated at the City of London School and Keble College, Oxford and ordained in 1899. His first post was as a cu ...

, Vicar of South Ascot (since 1940) and former Bishop of the Windward Islands *: Geoffrey Allen, Principal of

Ripon Hall Ripon College Cuddesdon is a Church of England theological college in Cuddesdon, a village outside Oxford, England. The College trains men and women for ministry in the Church of England: stipendiary, non-stipendiary, local ordained and lay min ...

and former Bishop in Egypt (became

Bishop of Derby The Bishop of Derby is the Ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Derby in the Province of Canterbury.''Crockford's Clerical Directory'', 100th edition, (2007), Church House Publishing. . The diocese was formed from part of the Diocese o ...

) *1986–1988: Patrick Harris, Secretary of the

Partnership for World Mission A partnership is an arrangement where parties, known as business partners, agree to cooperate to advance their mutual interests. The partners in a partnership may be individuals, businesses, interest-based organizations, schools, governments o ...

and former Bishop of Northern Argentina (later Bishop of Southwell) Those who have served in (or into) retirement have included: *1952 (ret.)1956 (d.): Roscow Shedden, former Bishop of Nassau *1952 (ret.)1956 (d.): Gerald Allen, retired Bishop suffragan of Dorchester *1954 (ret.)1961 (d.): Arthur Parham, retired Bishop suffragan of Reading

Notes

References

Oxford Diocesan
Year Book *''Haydn's Book of Dignities (1894)'' Joseph Haydn/Horace Ockerby, reprinted (1969) *''Whitaker's Almanack 1883 to 2004'', Joseph Whitaker and Sons Ltd/A&C Black, London *''The above text is partly drawn from the Catholic Encyclopaedia of 1908'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Bishop of Oxford * History of Oxford

Diocese of Oxford