Historical development of Church of England dioceses

This article traces the historical development of the dioceses and cathedrals of the Church of England. It is customary in England to name each diocese after the city where its cathedral is located. Occasionally, when the bishop's seat has been moved from one city to another, the diocese may retain both names, for example Bath and Wells. More recently, where a cathedral is in a small or little-known city, the diocesan name has been changed to include the name of a nearby larger city: thus the cathedral in Southwell now serves the diocese of Southwell and Nottingham, and Ripon Cathedral was in Ripon and Leeds from 1999 until 2014. Cathedrals, like other churches, are dedicated to a particular saint or holy object, or Christ himself, but are commonly referred to by the name of the city where they stand. A cathedral is, simply, the church where the bishop has his chair or "cathedra".

The forty-two dioceses of the Church of England are administrative territorial units each governed by a bishop. Forty-one dioceses cover England, the Isle of Man, the Channel Islands, the Isles of Scilly, and a small part of Wales. One diocese, the Diocese in Europe, is also a part of the Church of England (rather than a separate Anglican church such as the Church in Wales), and covers the whole of mainland Europe, the countries of Morocco and Turkey, and the territory of the former Soviet Union.

The structure of the dioceses within the Church of England was initially inherited from the Catholic Church as part of the English Reformation. During the Reformation, a number of new dioceses were founded. No new English or Welsh dioceses were then created until the middle of the 19th century, when dioceses were founded mainly in response to the growing population, especially in the northern industrial cities.

From 1787, the Anglican church also erected 41 dioceses outside these isles (see § colonial dioceses); these were part of the Church of England until they were separated from the home Church in 1863. From 1801 until 1871, the dioceses of Ireland were also part of the United Church of England and Ireland. In 1920 (by the Welsh Church Act 1914), the Welsh dioceses were separated to form the Church in Wales.

The last dioceses were created in 1927. The 42 dioceses are divided between two Provinces: the Province of Canterbury (with 30 dioceses) and the Province of York (with 12 dioceses). The archbishops of Canterbury and York have pastoral oversight over the bishops within their province, along with certain other rights and responsibilities.

History

The history of the cathedrals in Great Britain differs somewhat from that of their European continental counterparts. British cathedrals have always been fewer in number than those of Italy, France, and other parts of Europe, while the buildings themselves have tended to be much larger. While France, at the time of the French Revolution, had 136 cathedrals, England had 27. Because of a ruling that no cathedral could be built in a village, any town in which a cathedral was located was elevated to city status, regardless of its size. To this day several large English cathedrals are located in small "cathedral cities", notably Wells and Ely Cathedrals, both of which rank among the greatest works of English Medieval architecture.

Early organisation

In earlier times, populations were sparsely spread and towns were few. The population of the kingdom of England in the 11th century is estimated at between one and two million, with Lincolnshire, East Anglia, and East Kent the most densely populated areas; in other parts of the country many villages had been razed by the conquest armies. Instead of exercising jurisdiction over geographical areas, many of the bishops were linked to tribes or peoples, as the bishops of the South Saxons, the West Saxons, the Somersætas, etc. The ''cathedra'' of such a bishop was often migratory.

In 1075 a council was held in London, under the presidency of Archbishop Lanfranc, which, reciting the decrees of the council of Sardica held in 347 and that of Laodicea held in 360 on this matter, ordered the bishop of the South Saxons to remove his see from Selsey to Chichester; the Wiltshire and Dorset bishop to remove his cathedra from Sherborne to Old Sarum, and the Mercian bishop, whose cathedral was then at Lichfield, to transfer it to Chester. Traces of the tribal and migratory system may still be noted in the designations of the Irish see of Meath (where the result has been that there is now no cathedral church) and Ossory, the cathedral church of which is at Kilkenny. Some of the Scottish sees were also migratory.

Late Middle Ages

Between 1075 and the 15th century, the cathedrals of England were almost evenly divided between those ruled by secular canons headed by a dean and those ruled by monastic orders headed by a prior, all of which were Benedictine, except Carlisle, which was Augustinian. Two cathedrals, Bath and Coventry, shared their sees with Wells and Lichfield, respectively.

Reformation

The entire structure of the monastic and cathedral system was overthrown and reconstituted during the Reformation. Cathedrals which were once Roman Catholic came under the governance of the Church of England.

All the English monastic cathedral chapters were dissolved by Henry VIII and, with the exceptions of Bath and Coventry, were re-founded by him as churches of secular chapters, with a dean as the head, and a certain number of canons ranging from twelve at Canterbury and Durham to four at Carlisle, and with certain subordinate officers as minor canons, gospellers, epistolers, etc. The precentorship in these churches of the "New Foundation", as they are called, is not, as in the secular churches of the "Old Foundation", a dignity, but is merely an office held by one of the minor canons.

Henry VIII also created six new cathedrals from old monastic establishments, in each case governed by secular canons. Of these, Westminster did not retain its cathedral status. Four more of England's large historic churches were later to become cathedrals: Southwell, Southwark, Ripon, and St Albans Abbey.

Roles within the Cathedral

Details of cathedrals and their foundation

Ancient cathedrals

The medieval Church of England was organised into 17 dioceses. About half of the diocesan cathedrals were also monasteries, with the prior serving double duty as dean of the cathedral. The rest were served by a college of "secular" canons – non-monastic priests living under no fixed rule of life. Both types often had Saxon foundations. Dioceses which exist in the Church of England today are indicated in bold type.

Pre-Conquest

Post-conquest

The Henrican Reorganisation

After Henry VIII's break with the Pope and the dissolution of the monasteries, the formerly monastic cathedrals were "re-founded" with secular canons. Furthermore, a number of new dioceses were formed, using some of the largest and finest of the other dissolved monasteries as cathedrals. Together, these two groups — the old monastic cathedrals and the new sees — were known as cathedrals of the New Foundation; the old cathedrals which had always been served by secular canons were known as those of the Old Foundation. Dioceses which exist in the Church of England today are indicated in bold type.

Colonial dioceses

During the British colonial era, the Anglican religion was exported to the colonies. From 1787 onwards, Church of England dioceses were founded in the colonies. A structure of provinces and metropolitans developed until, in 1863, the imperial Privy Council ruled that the English church hierarchy had no legal status in the colonies. Immediately prior to that point, the United Church of England and Ireland had a total of 82 dioceses worldwide.

From 1863 onwards, Anglican (former) colonial dioceses have been separate from and independent of the English church. Exceptionally, the Archbishop of Canterbury has retained (and retains to this day) some metropolitan jurisdictions outside England. Dioceses are listed by their name at creation and their present country, with only their cathedral(s) between creation and independence.

Irish dioceses

Between the 1801 Union and 1871 disestablishment, the Anglican dioceses of England and Ireland were united in one United Church of England and Ireland. As such, the Irish dioceses were, for a time, Church of England dioceses. Each diocese is listed with its cathedral(s) only during the United Church period.

Late modern foundations

No further cathedrals were founded until, in the mid 19th century, the huge population growth of north-central England meant that redistricting could no longer be ignored. Since then twenty new dioceses have been founded, each with a cathedral — some are great medieval monasteries or collegiate churches which were not elevated by Henry VIII but might well have been; others are glorified parish churches; and others are totally new constructions. In the following table, bold type indicates the creation of a new diocese, whilst plain type is used to indicate changes to existing dioceses.

Line of descent since St Augustine

There were archbishops in London, York and Caerleon and bishops in Lincoln before the 4th century. The following is a simplified breakdown of the creation of dioceses since St Augustine's 6th/7th century dioceses. It is simplified in that not every new diocese is formed from only one predecessor – they have often taken territory from two or more neighbouring dioceses. Today's dioceses are highlighted in bold type.

* Canterbury – 597–present
* Rochester – 604–present
**Hertfordshire and Essex split off to form Diocese of St Albans, 1876–present
***Essex split off to form Diocese of Chelmsford, 1914–present
* London – 604–present
**seat at St Paul's 604–1539
***split into Diocese of Westminster (seat at Westminster Abbey), 1540–50
**seats at St Paul's and Westminster Abbey, 1550–56
**seat at St Paul's, 1556–present
***Hertfordshire and Essex moved to Rochester, 1846
* York – 625–present
**Lindisfarne added (bishop of larger diocese also called " Bishop of Northumbria"), 664
**larger diocese split in 678 to form:
***Diocese of York
****Archbishop, 735–present
****split to create (with part of Lichfield-and-Coventry) the Diocese of Chester, 1541–present
*****Province of Canterbury until 1542; Province of York since
*****split to create (with part of York) new Diocese of Ripon, 1836–2014 (renamed Ripon and Leeds, 1999)
******split to form Diocese of Wakefield, 1888–2014
******split to form Diocese of Bradford, 1920–2014
***** Diocese of Leeds, created from former territory of dissolved dioceses of Ripon and Leeds, of Wakefield and of Bradford, 2014–present
*****split to form Diocese of Manchester, 1847–present
******split to form Diocese of Blackburn, 1926–present
*****split to form Diocese of Liverpool, 1880–present
****split to form Diocese of Sheffield, 1914–present
***old Diocese of Ripon, 678 (reunited to York before 700)
***Bernicia diocese (split 685)
****Hexham diocese (two parts reabsorbed into York and Lindisfarne, 854)
****Lindisfarne diocese ''(see below)''
*East Anglia/ Norwich – c. 630–present
**" Bishop of the East Angles", c. 630–672
***seat at Soham, c. 630 (purportedly, briefly before transfer to Dunwich)
***seat at Dunwich, c. 630–672
**split into Elmham/Norwich diocese, 672–present
***seat at Elmham, 673–1070
***seat at Thetford, 1070–1094
***seat at Norwich, 1094–present
**split to form Dunwich diocese, 672–c. 950
***suppressed and reunited to Elmham, c. 950
* Dorchester (Wessex)/ Diocese of Winchester, 634–present
**seat at Dorchester-upon-Thames until c. 660–680
**seat in flux c. 660–680
**seat at Winchester since c. 660–680
**split to form Selsey/ Chichester diocese, 681–present
***seat at Selsey, 681–685 & 706–1075
***suppressed & absorbed by Winchester, 685–706
***seat at Chichester since 1075
***split off to form Sherborne/ Salisbury diocese, 705–present
****seat at Sherborne until 1075
****seat at Old Sarum, 1075–1225
****seat at New Sarum since 1225
****split off to form Crediton/ Exeter diocese, 905–present
*****seat at Tawton until c. 909
*****seat at Credition, c. 909–1050
*****seat at Exeter since 1050
*****absorbed Cornish see, 1027
*****split to form Diocese of Truro, 1876–present
****split to form Ramsbury diocese, c. 909–1058
*****suppressed and reunited to Sherborne
****split to form ''the Somerset diocese'', c. 909–present
*****Diocese of Wells; seat at Wells, c. 909–1090
*****Diocese of Bath; seat at Bath, 1090–1197 & 1219–1245
***** Diocese of Bath and Glastonbury; seat at Glastonbury, 1197–1219
***** Diocese of Bath and Wells; equal seats at Bath and at Wells, 1245–1539
*****Diocese of Bath and Wells; seat at Wells, 1539–present
**south London area given to Rochester, 1877–1905
***similar area formed the Diocese of Southwark, 1905–present
**split off to form Diocese of Portsmouth, 1927–present
**split off to form Diocese of Guildford, 1927–present
*Lindisfarne/ Durham – 635–present
**seat at Lindisfarne, 635–664 & 685–875
**united to York, 664–678
**united to Bernicia, 678–685
**seat at Chester-le-Street, 875–995
**seat at Durham, 995–present
**called Prince-Bishop, c. 1071–c. 1836
**split to form Diocese of Carlisle, 1133–present
**split to form Diocese of Newcastle (upon Tyne), 1882–present
* Lichfield – 656–present
**Mercian diocese; seat at Repton, 656–669
** Diocese of Lichfield; seat at Lichfield, 669–1075 & 1837–present
**Archbishop of Lichfield, metropolitan over Worcester, Leicester, Lindsey, Hereford, Elmham and Dunwich, 786–796 (seized from Canterbury)
**Old Diocese of Chester; seat at Chester, 1075–1102
***''for new Diocese of Chester, see above''
**Old Diocese of Coventry; seat at Coventry, 1102–1228 (co-cathedral at Chester 1102–?)
***''for new Diocese of Coventry, see below''
**Diocese of Coventry and Lichfield; seats both at Coventry and at Lichfield, 1228–1539
**Diocese of Lichfield and Coventry; seat at Lichfield, 1539–1837
**split to form Hereford diocese, 676–present
**split to form Lindsey diocese, 678–c. 1010
***suppressed and given to the Dorchester (Mercian) diocese, c. 1010 ''(see below)''
**split to form Worcester diocese, 680–present
***split to form Gloucester diocese, 1541–1552 & 1554–present
****Diocese of Gloucester; seat at Gloucester, 1541–1552, 1554–1836 & 1897–present
****Diocese of Worcester and Gloucester; seats both at Worcester and at Gloucester, 1552–1554
****Diocese of Gloucester and Bristol; seats both at Gloucester and at Bristol, 1836–1897
****split to form Bristol diocese, 1542–present
*****suppressed and merged to Gloucester diocese, 1836–1897
***split to form Birmingham diocese, 1905–present
***split to form new Coventry diocese, 1918–present
**split to form old Leicester/ Dorchester (Mercian)/ Lincoln diocese, 681–present
***seat at Leicester, 681–878
***seat at Dorchester-upon-Thames, 878–1072
***seat at Lincoln, 1072–present
***split to form Ely diocese, 1108–present
****split to form the Diocese of St Edmundsbury and Ipswich, 1914–present
***split to form Peterborough diocese, 1541–present
****split to form new Leicester diocese, 1926–present
***split to form Oxford diocese, 1542–present
****seat at Osney, 1542
****seat at Christ Church, 1542–present
**some territory ceded to Worcester, 1837; some of which became Birmingham and Coventry dioceses, 1905 & 1918 ''(see above)
**split to form Southwell diocese, 1884–present
***Province of Canterbury until 1936; Province of York since
***called Southwell and Nottingham since 2005
***split to form Derby diocese, 1927–present
*Old Cornish bishopric – c. 920–1027
**See at St Germans
**Called "Bishop of Cornwall" and "Bishop of St Germans"
**Absorbed by Crediton ''(see above)''
*Glamorgan area – c522–present ''(Wales)''
**Bishop of (St) Teilo until before 1107
**Under Canterbury's jurisdiction by 982
**Bishop of Glamorgan (and Gwent), before 1107–1115
** Diocese of Llandaff; Bishop of Llandaff; seat at Llandaff, 1115–present
** Church in Wales since 1920
*Bangor diocese – 546–present ''(Wales)''
**Under Canterbury's jurisdiction by c. 1081
** Church in Wales since 1920
* St David's diocese – 545–present ''(Wales)''
**Archbishop of St David's until 1115
**Under Canterbury's jurisdiction by 1115
** Church in Wales since 1920
* St Asaph diocese – c. 583–present ''(Wales)''
**Under Canterbury's jurisdiction by 1143
** Church in Wales since 1920
* Sodor and Man diocese received from Norwegian jurisdiction – c. 1400–present
**Province of Canterbury until 1542; Province of York since
* Europe diocese, 1842–present
**Diocese of Gibraltar (over southern Europe), founded 1842
**merged with London's continental jurisdictions (over northern and central Europe) and renamed Diocese of Gibraltar in Europe, 1980

See also

* Apostolicae curae
* Monasticism
* Architecture of the medieval cathedrals of England
* List of cathedrals in the United Kingdom
* Anglican Communion
* List of Church of England dioceses
* Gesta pontificum Anglorum

Notes

References

Further reading

*

External links

England and Wales Diocese boundaries in 1835 and 1850

{{DEFAULTSORT:Historical Development Of Church Of England Dioceses
History of Christianity in the United Kingdom
History of the Church of England
*History
England