Diocese of Carlisle

The Diocese of Carlisle was created in 11 April 1132 by Henry I out of part of the Diocese of Durham, although many people of Cumbric descent in the area looked to Glasgow for spiritual leadership. The first bishop was Æthelwold, who was the king's confessor and became prior of the Augustinian priory at Nostell in Yorkshire. Carlisle was thus the only cathedral in England apart from Bristol to be run by Augustinians instead of Benedictines. This only lasted until the reign of Henry III however, when the Augustinians in Carlisle joined the rebels who temporarily handed the city over to Scotland and elected their own bishop. When the revolt was ended, the Augustinians were expelled.
The seat of the diocese is the Cathedral Church of the Holy and Undivided Trinity in Carlisle.
The Diocese covers most of the ceremonial county of Cumbria; Alston Moor is part of the Diocese of Newcastle. The diocese originally only covered the northern parts of Cumberland and Westmorland, and expanded to cover almost the entirety of these, as well as the Furness and Cartmel areas of Lancashire, in 1847, from part of the Diocese of Chester, although this did not take effect until 1856.

WWW Official Site 𝕏 carlislediocese

Organisation

Bishops

Alongside the diocesan Bishop of Carlisle, the Diocese has one suffragan bishop, the Bishop of Penrith.
Other retired bishops living in the diocese who are licensed as honorary assistant bishops:

2003–present: A retired Bishop suffragan of Bedford, John Richardson, is licensed in both Carlisle and Newcastle dioceses and lives in Bewcastle.
2024-present: John Thomson, formerly Bishop of Selby
James Bell, formerly Bishop of Knaresborough
Peter Ramsden, formerly bishop of Port Moresby
Nigel McCulloch, formerly Bishop of Manchester, Bishop of Wakefield and Bishop of Taunton

Alternative episcopal oversight is provided by the provincial episcopal visitor the Bishop suffragan of Beverley, Stephen Race, and Bishop of Ebbsfleet, Rob Munro.

Archdeaconries and deaneries

The diocese of Carlisle is divided into three archdeaconries, each divided into a number of rural deaneries. The data in this table is a summation of the statistics found in the List of [churches in the Diocese of Carlisle|list of churches].
*includes Cathedral
From 1889 to 1939, the diocese had one suffragan bishop, the Bishop of Barrow-in-Furness, and from 1939 until 1944, two suffragan bishops, before the see of Barrow went into the abeyance in which it remains to date.