Archdeacons in the Diocese of Derby


The three Archdeacons in the Diocese of Derby are senior ecclesiastical officers in the Church of England Diocese of Derby. Each archdeacon has responsibility for church buildings and clergy discipline in her/his respective archdeaconry.

History

The first mentions of an archdeacon in the area occurred in the twelfth century – around the time when archdeacons' posts were first being created across England. From that earliest point until the Victorian reorganisations of church structures, the Archdeaconry of Derby was in the Diocese of Lichfield. The archdeaconry, at that point covering the whole county of Derby, was transferred by Order in Council to the new Diocese of Southwell on 5 February 1884 and then split on 18 October 1910 — creating the Archdeaconry of Chesterfield — such that at its 2022 dissolution, Derby archdeaconry covered roughly the southern half of Derbyshire. On 7 July 1927, the Diocese of Derby was created from the two Southwell archdeaconries of Derby and of Chesterfield.
In 2022, the Archdeaconries of Derby and of Chesterfield were dissolved in order to erect three new archdeaconries. At the point of their dissolution: the Archdeaconry of Derby was divided into the deaneries of Derby City, Dove and Derwent, Mercia, and South East Derbyshire; and the Archdeaconry of Chesterfield, was divided into the deaneries of Carsington, Hardwick, North East Derbyshire, and Peak.

Archdeacons of Derby

High Medieval

At its creation, the archdeaconry was in the Diocese of Coventry. Multiple archdeacons are named from 1086, but their territorial titles are unknown.
On 6 June 2022, Libby Lane, Bishop of Derby, dissolved the two existing Archdeaconries of Derby and of Chesterfield in order to erect three new Archdeaconries: of Derby City and South Derbyshire, of East Derbyshire, and of Derbyshire Peak and Dales. On 12 June, she collated Carol Coslett as Archdeacon of Derbyshire Peak and Dales; Matthew Trick as Archdeacon of Derby City and South Derbyshire; and Karen Hamblin as Archdeacon of East Derbyshire.
Coslett retired during February 2023; her successor, Nicky Fenton, was collated on 30 September 2023. Hamblin retired in September 2025.