Historical development of Church of England dioceses facts for kids

This article tells the story of how the dioceses and cathedrals of the Church of England came to be. In England, a diocese is usually named after the city where its main church, called a cathedral, is located. Sometimes, if the bishop's main office moved, the diocese might keep both names, like Bath and Wells. If a cathedral is in a small town, the diocese might add a bigger city's name to be clearer, like Southwell and Nottingham.

A cathedral is simply the church where a bishop has his special chair, called a "cathedra." Cathedrals, like other churches, are often named after a saint or Christ, but people usually just call them by the name of the city they are in.

The Church of England has 42 dioceses, which are like administrative areas, each led by a bishop. Forty-one of these cover England, the Isle of Man, the Channel Islands, the Isles of Scilly, and a small part of Wales. One special diocese, the Diocese in Europe, covers mainland Europe, Morocco, Turkey, and parts of the former Soviet Union.

The way these dioceses are set up was first taken from the Catholic Church during the English Reformation. During this time, some new dioceses were created. After that, no new English or Welsh dioceses were made until the mid-1800s. New ones were then added mostly because the population was growing, especially in the industrial cities of the north.

From 1787, the Anglican church also started 41 dioceses outside these islands. These were part of the Church of England until 1863, when they became separate. Between 1801 and 1871, the dioceses in Ireland were also part of the United Church of England and Ireland. In 1920, the Welsh dioceses separated to form the Church in Wales.

The very last dioceses were created in 1927. Today, the 42 dioceses are split into two main areas called Provinces: the Province of Canterbury (with 30 dioceses) and the Province of York (with 12 dioceses). The archbishops of Canterbury and York are in charge of the bishops in their own province.

Current dioceses of the Church of England.

How English Cathedrals Began

Durham Cathedral was once a monastery.

The history of cathedrals in Great Britain is a bit different from those in other parts of Europe. Britain has always had fewer cathedrals than countries like Italy or France, but the buildings themselves are often much bigger. For example, before the French Revolution, France had 136 cathedrals, while England had only 27.

An old rule said that no cathedral could be built in a village. This meant that any town with a cathedral automatically became a city, no matter how small it was. Even today, some very large English cathedrals are in small "cathedral cities," like Wells and Ely. Both of these are amazing examples of medieval English architecture.

Early Church Organization

In the past, there weren't many people or towns in England. In the 11th century, England had only about one to two million people. Areas like Lincolnshire and East Anglia were more crowded, but many villages had been destroyed by wars.

Instead of being in charge of specific areas, many bishops were linked to different tribes or groups of people, like the bishops of the South Saxons or West Saxons. These bishops often moved around with their "cathedra" (their special chair).

In 1075, a meeting was held in London. It was decided that bishops should move their main churches from small places to bigger towns. For example, the bishop of the South Saxons moved his office from Selsey to Chichester. This helped to organize the church more clearly by geographical areas.

Cathedrals in the Middle Ages

Dioceses of England and Wales before the Dissolution of the Monasteries (1536–41).

Between 1075 and the 1400s, English cathedrals were split almost evenly into two types:

• Those run by "secular canons," who were priests living in a community but not under strict monastic rules. They were led by a dean.
• Those run by "monastic orders," mostly Benedictine monks, led by a prior. The only exception was Carlisle, which was run by Augustinian monks.

Two cathedrals, Bath and Coventry, shared their bishop with other cities, Wells and Lichfield.

The Reformation Changes Everything

The ruins of the medieval Bishop's Palace at Lincoln, which was run by secular canons.

The Protestant Reformation completely changed the church system in England. Cathedrals that were once part of the Roman Catholic Church came under the control of the Church of England.

King Henry VIII closed down all the monasteries, including those that ran cathedrals. Most of these monastic cathedrals, except Bath and Coventry, were then reopened as churches run by secular chapters. These new chapters had a dean as the head and a certain number of canons (priests).

Henry VIII also created six new cathedrals from old monastic buildings. However, Westminster Abbey did not stay a cathedral for long. Later, four more large historic churches in England became cathedrals: Southwell, Southwark, Ripon, and St Albans Abbey.

Old and New Cathedrals

The medieval Church of England had 17 dioceses. About half of these cathedrals were also monasteries. The rest were run by groups of "secular" canons, who were priests not living under strict monastic rules. Many of these churches had been founded a long time ago, even in Saxon times.

Cathedrals Before the Norman Conquest

Here are some of the very old dioceses and their cathedrals. The ones that still exist in the Church of England today are in bold.

Cathedrals After the Norman Conquest

Here are more dioceses that were founded after the Norman Conquest.

New Dioceses from Henry VIII

After King Henry VIII broke away from the Pope and closed the monasteries, the old monastic cathedrals were "re-founded" with secular canons. Also, several new dioceses were created, using some of the largest and most beautiful former monasteries as their cathedrals.

These two groups—the old monastic cathedrals and the new dioceses—were called cathedrals of the New Foundation. The older cathedrals that had always been run by secular canons were known as the Old Foundation. Dioceses that still exist today are in bold.

Dioceses in Other Countries

During the time when Britain had many colonies, the Anglican church spread to those places. From 1787 onwards, Church of England dioceses were started in the colonies. These dioceses grew and formed their own structures. In 1863, a ruling said that the English church no longer had legal power over these colonial churches.

After 1863, most Anglican dioceses in former colonies became separate and independent from the Church of England. However, the Archbishop of Canterbury still has some special authority in a few places outside England.

Modern Dioceses in England

No new cathedrals were founded in England until the mid-1800s. At that time, the population in north-central England grew a lot, so new church areas were needed. Since then, twenty new dioceses have been created, each with a cathedral. Some of these cathedrals are old medieval churches that were not made cathedrals by Henry VIII. Others are grand parish churches, and some are completely new buildings.

How Dioceses Were Created Over Time

This section shows how dioceses have been created since St Augustine's time (6th/7th century). It's a simplified view, as new dioceses often took land from more than one older diocese. Today's dioceses are in bold.

• 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
  • main church at St Paul's 604–1539
    • split into Diocese of Westminster (main church at Westminster Abbey), 1540–50
  • main churches at St Paul's and Westminster Abbey, 1550–56
  • main church 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

*Part of the Province of Canterbury until 1542; part of the 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
    • main church at Soham, c. 630 (supposedly, briefly before transfer to Dunwich)
    • main church at Dunwich, c. 630–672
  • split into Elmham/Norwich diocese, 672–present
    • main church at Elmham, 673–1070
    • main church at Thetford, 1070–1094
    • main church at Norwich, 1094–present
  • split to form Dunwich diocese, 672–c. 950
    • closed and reunited to Elmham, c. 950
• Dorchester (Wessex)/Diocese of Winchester, 634–present
  • main church at Dorchester-upon-Thames until c. 660–680
  • main church in flux c. 660–680
  • main church at Winchester since c. 660–680
  • split to form Selsey/Chichester diocese, 681–present
    • main church at Selsey, 681–685 & 706–1075
    • closed & absorbed by Winchester, 685–706
    • main church at Chichester since 1075
    • split off to form Sherborne/Salisbury diocese, 705–present
      • main church at Sherborne until 1075
      • main church at Old Sarum, 1075–1225
      • main church at New Sarum since 1225
      • split off to form Crediton/Exeter diocese, 905–present

*main church at Tawton until c. 909 *main church at Credition, c. 909–1050 *main church at Exeter since 1050 *absorbed Cornish see, 1027 *split to form Diocese of Truro, 1876–present

• • • • split to form Ramsbury diocese, c. 909–1058

*closed and reunited to Sherborne

• • • • split to form the Somerset diocese, c. 909–present

*Diocese of Wells; main church at Wells, c. 909–1090 *Diocese of Bath; main church at Bath, 1090–1197 & 1219–1245 *Diocese of Bath and Glastonbury; main church at Glastonbury, 1197–1219 '*'Diocese of Bath and Wells; equal main churches at Bath and at Wells, 1245–1539 '*'Diocese of Bath and Wells; main church 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
  • main church at Lindisfarne, 635–664 & 685–875
  • united to York, 664–678
  • united to Bernicia, 678–685
  • main church at Chester-le-Street, 875–995
  • main church 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; main church at Repton, 656–669
  • Diocese of Lichfield; main church at Lichfield, 669–1075 & 1837–present
  • Archbishop of Lichfield, in charge of Worcester, Leicester, Lindsey, Hereford, Elmham and Dunwich, 786–796 (taken from Canterbury)
  • Old Diocese of Chester; main church at Chester, 1075–1102
    • for new Diocese of Chester, see above
  • Old Diocese of Coventry; main church at Coventry, 1102–1228 (co-cathedral at Chester 1102–?)
    • for new Diocese of Coventry, see below
  • Diocese of Coventry and Lichfield; main churches both at Coventry and at Lichfield, 1228–1539
  • Diocese of Lichfield and Coventry; main church at Lichfield, 1539–1837
  • split to form Hereford diocese, 676–present
  • split to form Lindsey diocese, 678–c. 1010
    • closed 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; main church at Gloucester, 1541–1552, 1554–1836 & 1897–present
      • Diocese of Worcester and Gloucester; main churches both at Worcester and at Gloucester, 1552–1554
      • Diocese of Gloucester and Bristol; main churches both at Gloucester and at Bristol, 1836–1897
      • split to form Bristol diocese, 1542–present

*closed 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
    • main church at Leicester, 681–878
    • main church at Dorchester-upon-Thames, 878–1072
    • main church 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
      • main church at Osney, 1542
      • main church at Christ Church, 1542–present
  • some territory given to Worcester, 1837; some of which became Birmingham and Coventry dioceses, 1905 & 1918 (see above)
  • split to form Southwell diocese, 1884–present
    • Part of the Province of Canterbury until 1936; part of the Province of York since.
    • called Southwell and Nottingham since 2005
    • split to form Derby diocese, 1927–present
• Old Cornish bishopric – c. 920–1027
  • Main church 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 authority by 982
  • Bishop of Glamorgan (and Gwent), before 1107–1115
  • Diocese of Llandaff; Bishop of Llandaff; main church at Llandaff, 1115–present
  • Part of the Church in Wales since 1920
• Bangor diocese – 546–present (Wales)
  • Under Canterbury's authority by c. 1081
  • Part of the Church in Wales since 1920
• St David's diocese – 545–present (Wales)
  • Archbishop of St David's until 1115
  • Under Canterbury's authority by 1115
  • Part of the Church in Wales since 1920
• St Asaph diocese – c. 583–present (Wales)
  • Under Canterbury's authority by 1143
  • Part of the Church in Wales since 1920
• Sodor and Man diocese received from Norwegian authority – c. 1400–present
  • Part of the Province of Canterbury until 1542; part of the Province of York since.
• Europe diocese, 1842–present
  • Diocese of Gibraltar (over southern Europe), founded 1842
  • merged with London's continental areas (over northern and central Europe) and renamed Diocese of Gibraltar in Europe, 1980

Images for kids

• 

  Current dioceses of the Church of England.

• 

  Durham Cathedral was under Benedictine rule.

• 

  Dioceses of England and Wales prior to the Dissolution of the Monasteries (1536–41).

• 

  The ruins of the medieval Bishop's Palace at Lincoln, which was ruled by secular canons.