List of Church of England dioceses


There are 42 dioceses of the Church of England. These cover England, the Isle of Man, the Channel Islands and a small part of Wales. The Diocese in Europe is also a part of the Church of England, and covers the whole of continental Europe, Morocco and the post-Soviet states. The structure of 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, but no more 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. The most recent diocese to be established was the Diocese of Leeds, which came into being on 20 April 2014. Prior to that, no new dioceses had been created since 1927. Leeds was created by combining three previous dioceses: the Diocese of Bradford, the Diocese of Ripon and Leeds, and the Diocese of Wakefield.
The 42 current dioceses are divided into two provinces. The Province of Canterbury in the south comprises 30 dioceses and the Province of York in the north comprises 12. The archbishops of Canterbury and York have pastoral oversight over the bishops within their province, along with certain other rights and responsibilities. Each diocese has one cathedral, except for the Diocese of Leeds, which has three that are considered co-equal. Of all the dioceses, Derby has the smallest cathedral: Derby Cathedral takes up only. One diocese dates back to the 6th century, eight date back to the 7th century, two to the 10th century, five to the 11th century, two to the 12th century, five to the 16th century, seven to the 19th century, and ten to the 20th century. The territories administered by the various dioceses generally accord with the counties as they existed before the Local Government Act 1972.

Dioceses

Diocese
Coat of armsProvinceTerritoryCathedralFounded

CanterburySomerset; North Somerset; Bath and North East Somerset; the parish of Thorncombe in DorsetWells Cathedral

CanterburyBirmingham; Sandwell except part of the north; Solihull except part of the east; part of Warwickshire; some parishes in WorcestershireSt Philip's Cathedral

YorkLancashire except part of the east and south, Liverpool, and Manchester; some parishes in WiganBlackburn Cathedral

CanterburyBristol; southern two-thirds of South Gloucestershire; northern quarter of Wiltshire except part of the north; Swindon except part of the north and south; some parishes in GloucestershireBristol Cathedral

CanterburyKent east of MedwayCanterbury Cathedral

YorkCumbria except Alston Moor, and the former Sedbergh Rural District Carlisle Cathedral

CanterburyEssex except part of the north; part of East London north of the River Thames; part of South CambridgeshireChelmsford Cathedral

YorkCheshire; the Wirral Peninsula; Halton south of the River Mersey; Warrington south of the River Mersey; Trafford except part of the north; Stockport except part of the north and east; the eastern half of Tameside; part of Derbyshire; part of Manchester; part of FlintshireChester Cathedral

CanterburyWest Sussex except part of the north; East Sussex except part of the north; part of KentChichester Cathedral

CanterburyCoventry; Warwickshire except part of the north, southwest, and south; part of SolihullCoventry Cathedral

CanterburyDerbyshire except part of the north; part of Stockport; part of StaffordshireDerby Cathedral

YorkDurham except part of the southwest and north; Gateshead; South Tyneside; Sunderland; Hartlepool; Darlington; Stockton-on-Tees north of the River TeesDurham Cathedral

CanterburyCambridgeshire except part of the northwest and south; the western quarter of Norfolk; part of BedfordshireEly Cathedral

CanterburyEurope except Great Britain and Ireland; Morocco; Turkey; the post-Soviet states in AsiaGibraltar Cathedral
1980

CanterburyDevon except part of the southeast and west; Plymouth; TorbayExeter Cathedral

CanterburyGloucestershire except part of the north, south, and east; the northern third of South Gloucestershire; part of Wiltshire; part of southwest Warwickshire; part of southern WorcestershireGloucester Cathedral

CanterburyThe western two-thirds of Surrey south of the River Thames except part of the northeast; part of northeastern Hampshire; part of Greater London; part of West SussexGuildford Cathedral

CanterburyHerefordshire; the southern half of Shropshire; part of Powys and MonmouthshireHereford Cathedral

YorkRipon; Bradford; Leeds; Huddersfield; WakefieldCo-equally:
Ripon Cathedral,
Wakefield Cathedral,
Bradford Cathedral

CanterburyLeicestershire; part of Northamptonshire, Derbyshire, and WarwickshireLeicester Cathedral

CanterburyStaffordshire except part of the southeast and southwest; the northern half of Shropshire; Wolverhampton; Walsall; the northern half of SandwellLichfield Cathedral

CanterburyLincolnshire; North East Lincolnshire; North Lincolnshire except part of the westLincoln Cathedral

YorkLiverpool; Sefton; Knowsley; St Helens; Wigan except part of the north and east; Halton north of the River Mersey; most of West LancashireLiverpool Cathedral

CanterburyThe City of London; Greater London north of the River Thames except part of the east and north; Surrey north of the Thames; part of HertfordshireSt Paul's Cathedral

YorkManchester except part of the south; Salford; Bolton; Bury; Rochdale; Oldham; the western half of Tameside; part of Wigan, Trafford, Stockport, and southern LancashireManchester Cathedral

YorkNorthumberland; Newcastle upon Tyne; North Tyneside; part of eastern Cumbria; part of County DurhamNewcastle Cathedral

CanterburyNorfolk except part of the west; part of northeastern SuffolkNorwich Cathedral

CanterburyOxfordshire; Berkshire; Buckinghamshire; part of Hampshire and HertfordshireChrist Church Cathedral

CanterburyNorthamptonshire except part of the west; Rutland; Peterborough except part of the southeast; part of LincolnshirePeterborough Cathedral

CanterburyThe southeastern third of Hampshire; the Isle of WightPortsmouth Cathedral

CanterburyKent west of the River Medway except part of the southwest; Medway; most of Bromley Bexley; part of East SussexRochester Cathedral

CanterburyHertfordshire except part of the south and west; Bedfordshire except part of the north and west; part of Greater LondonSt Albans Cathedral

CanterburySuffolk except part of the northeast; part of EssexSt Edmundsbury Cathedral

CanterburyThe southern three quarters of Wiltshire; Dorset except part of the east; part of Hampshire and DevonSalisbury Cathedral

YorkSheffield; Rotherham; Doncaster except part of the southeast; part of North Lincolnshire; part of northeastern Barnsley; part of the East Riding of YorkshireSheffield Cathedral

YorkThe Isle of ManPeel Cathedral
447

CanterburyGreater London south of the River Thames except most of Bromley and Bexley and part of the southwest; the eastern third of SurreySouthwark Cathedral

YorkNottinghamshire; part of South YorkshireSouthwell Minster

CanterburyCornwall; the Isles of Scilly; part of DevonTruro Cathedral

CanterburyHampshire except the southeastern quarter and part of the northeast, west, and north; part of eastern Dorset; the Channel IslandsWinchester Cathedral

CanterburyWorcestershire except part of the south and north; part of Wolverhampton, Sandwell, and northern GloucestershireWorcester Cathedral

YorkYork; East Riding of Yorkshire except part of the southwest; Kingston upon Hull; Redcar and Cleveland; Middlesbrough; the eastern half of North Yorkshire; Stockton-on-Tees south of the River Tees; part of LeedsYork Minster

Former dioceses

Diocese
Coat of armsProvinceTerritoryCathedralFoundedDissolved

YorkBradford; Craven District; the former Sedbergh Rural DistrictBradford Cathedral
Gloucester and Bristol
CanterburyGloucestershire except part of the north and east; South Gloucestershire; part of northern Wiltshire; part of southwest Warwickshire; part of southern Worcestershire; Bristol; Swindon except part of the north and southCo-equally: Gloucester Cathedral, Bristol Cathedral

YorkPart of western and northern Yorkshire; the south Teesdale areaRipon Cathedral

YorkWakefield; Barnsley; Kirklees; CalderdaleWakefield Cathedral

CanterburyWestminster; Middlesex except FulhamWestminster Abbey

Statistics

Source: Diocese of Europe excluded.
DiocesePopulationArea
Pop. density
BeneficesParishesChurchesPeople per
church
Bath & Wells980,00016106001754605571,759
Birmingham1,599,00029054201381491808,883
Blackburn1,384,00093014801702302765,014
Bristol1,065,00047022301001672025,272
Canterbury981,0009701020992013133,134
Carlisle498,00025701901042273231,542
Chelmsford3,279,000153021303034695755,703
Chester1,677,000103016002142643374,976
Chichester1,704,000145011802743484743,595
Coventry896,00070013201252042403,733
Derby1,064,00099010801392533123,410
Durham1,475,00098015301692072585,717
Ely803,00015305001413033272,456
Exeter1,214,00025704701494845942,044
Gloucester690,0001130610902963771,830
Guildford1,077,00053020201421602115,104
Hereford322,000165020077338399807
Leeds2,777,000263010602644425804,788
Leicester1,086,00083012901032453113,492
Lichfield2,202,000173012702344225424,063
Lincoln1,093,00026704101804766221,757
Liverpool1,621,00039041301251682336,957
London4,246,000280160104084024719,015
Manchester2,233,00042053301752563206,978
Newcastle832,00021004001231702353,540
Norwich928,00018005201585546401,450
Oxford2,511,000221011002856098113,096
Peterborough971,00011408301273473792,562
Portsmouth784,00042019001051321654,752
Rochester1,375,00054025701712102585,329
Salisbury1,148,00021305391644636091,885
Sheffield1,278,00061021401411692086,144
Sodor & Man86,0002203901415382,263
Southwark2,880,00032090302632953558,113
Southwell & Nottingham1,152,00084013901512262963,892
St Albans1,978,000112017501873384034,908
St Eds & Ipswich684,00014304801114444811,422
Truro573,0001390420962142981,923
Winchester1,255,000113011001322403523,565
Worcester908,0006701350841662733,326
York1,457,00026705502314415742,538