Diocese of Worcester

Diocese of Worcester Church of England
Province:	Canterbury
Arms of the Bishop of Worcester
Bishop:	Dr John Inge
Cathedral:	Worcester Cathedral
Organisation
Suffragan bishop(s):	Bishop of Dudley
Archdeaconries:	Dudley, Worcester
No. of parishes:	180
No. of churches:	284
Details
Website:	cofe-worcester.org.uk

The Diocese of Worcester is an ancient diocese of the Church of England, within the Province of Canterbury. It covers Worcestershire, part of northern Gloucestershire and some parts of Staffordshire in the Black Country. The diocese if presided over by the Bishop of Worcester, and its centre is Worcester Cathedral, in the city of Worcester.

The diocese was founded in around 679 by St Theodore of Canterbury at Worcester to minister to the kingdom of the Hwicce, one of the many petty-kingdoms amongst the English of that time. The original borders of the diocese are believed to be based on those of that ancient kingdom.

Cathedral

The Cathedral Church of Christ and St Mary the Virgin, commonly called Worcester Cathedral, is the seat of the Bishop of Worcester. It stands in the centre of the City of Worcester, which city has grown up aroud it. It is a vast gothic edifice of the 12th century, whose tall spire is visible across the city.

Worcester Cathedral has been described as possibly the most interesting of all England’s cathedrals, especially architecturally. The first cathedral was built in 680, then Bishop Oswald built another in 983, and established a monastery attached to it. Wulfstan rebuilt the cathedral in 1084 after the Norman Conquest, which was the beginning of the present building.

During Anglo-Saxon times, Worcester was one of the most important monastic cathedrals in the country, a centre of great learning and of the richest diocese in the kingdom, a tradition continued in the Middle Ages, refected in the wealth of the cathedral library.

In 1540 King Henry VIII dissolved the monastery and the cathedral continued under a Dean and Chapter. The cathedral was badly damaged in the Civil Wars, which began and ended at Worcester, and was much restored after the Restoration in 1660, and in a major Victorian restoration from 1864-75.

Organisation

Currently the diocese has 190 parishes with 281 churches and 163 stipendiary clergy. It covers an area of 671 square miles.

The diocese is divided into two Archdeaconries:

• The Archdeaconry of Worcester
• The Archdeaconry of Dudley

From its creation, the diocese included what is now southern and western Warwickshire (an area known as Felden). On 24 January 1837 the north and east of Warwickshire (Arden) which formed the archdeaconry of Coventry in the then Diocese of Lichfield and Coventry was transferred to the diocese of Worcester. In 1905 an area in northern Warwickshire was split off as the Diocese of Birmingham, and in 1918 an area approximating to the rest of Warwickshire was made the Diocese of Coventry.

Early History

The Church of Worcester is believed to have been founded in the late 7th century. It seems to have benefited in the 8th century from the support of the kings of the Mercians. Through this royal support the Bishopric found itself in a position from which it was able to gradually extend its control over several of the other prominent minsters in the area during the seventh and eighth centuries. Consequently In the ninth century the bishopric of Worcester can be seen to be the most powerful ecclesiastical power in Mercia during this time. From this position the church was able to use their great wealth to buy privileges for themselves from the kings of Mercia. Later in the period it was from Mercia, and in particular Worcester, that King Alfred began to recruit priests and monks with which to rebuild the church in Wessex during the 880s (Asser, ch. 77). It has been argued that these priests bought with them a new attitude towards the churches place within society and the churches relationship with the monarchy. Consequently, we can see from the Bishopric of Worcester the emanation of a new ecclesiastical ideology that would develop over time to become the accepted Anglo-Saxon church.

Worcester Archive

The Charters of Worcester are one of the key sources for historians studying the period and are a major reason for the insight that we have regarding the early Anglo-Saxon Church. The Charters exist within the Worcester archive which is itself the largest Anglo-Saxon archive of its kind. It contains many texts, ranging from late 7th to the 11th centuries, providing for us an unprecedented continuous history of the Church. This archive takes physical form in that 2 distinct cartularies. The first cartulary, cartulary A (Cotton Tiberius A xiii), contains in it the majority of the charters that make up the archive. It is from these that we are able to develop a coherent picture of land ownership and societal responsibilities during the Anglo-Saxon period and beyond. A prominent example of this is no. 95 of cartulary A which shows the 8th-century king of Mercia, Ceolwulf II, granting the Bishopric of Worcester exemption from royal dues in exchange for money. This example shows not just the dues and power of the king himself but also the wealth and power of the Church, the sophisticated system of bartering and exchange that existed at the time and also the legal system of recording important transactions.

Bishops of Worcester

The Bishop of Worcester presides over the diocese. The title can be traced back to the foundation of the diocese in the year 680, and has been continuous ever since.

In the Anglo-Saxon period the diocese was the richest in the land, owning estates across the county, and in the later Anglo-Saxon period it became common for the Archbishop of York to hold York and Worcester in plurality because the ravanged lands of York, after the Norse had done their work, did not provide a sufficient income for an archbishop to live as was expected.

The bishop's official residence is the Bishop's Office, The Old Palace, Deansway, Worcester, Worcestershire. The bishops had two earlier residences: Hartlebury Castle near Kidderminster from the 13th-century to 2007 and a palace at Alvechurch until it was pulled down in the 17th-century.

List of bishops

Pre-Conquest

Bishops of Worcester
From	Until	Incumbent	Notes
680	691	Bosel	Resigned the See
691	693	Oftfor
693	717	Ecgwine of Evesham	Also recorded as Ecgwin, Egwin and Eegwine
718	c 744	Wilfrith (I.)	Also recorded as Wilfrid
c 743	c 775	Milred	Also recorded as Mildred and Hildred
775	777	Wærmund
777	c 780/81	Tilhere
781	c 799	Heathured	Also recorded as Hathored and Æthelred
c 799	822	Denebeorht	Also recorded as Deneberht
822	c 845/48	Heahbeorht	Also recorded as Heahberht and Eadbert
c 845/48	872	Ealhhun	Also recorded as Alwin
873	915	Werferth	Also recorded as Waerfrith, Wærferth, Werfrith and Waerfrith
915	922	Æthelhun
922	929	Wilfrith (II.)
Floruit|fl.929	957	Koenwald	Also recorded as Cenwald and Coenwald
957	959	Saint Dunstan	Previously Abbot of Glastonbury; translated to London; and later to Canterbury
961	992	Saint Oswald of Worcester	Held both Worcester and York ( 971–992)
992	1002	Ealdwulf	Previously Abbot of Peterborough; held both Worcester and York (995–1002)
1002	1016	Wulfstan (I.)	Translated from London; also Archbishop of York (1002–1023)
1016	1033	Leofsige
1033	1038	Beorhtheah
c 1038/39	1040	Lyfing (1st term)	Deprived from Worcester; also Bishop of Crediton and Cornwall (1027–1046)
1040	1041	Ælfric Puttoc	Also Archbishop of York, 1023–1041; deprived from both
1041	1046	Lyfing (2nd term)	Restored to Worcester
1046	1061	Ealdred	Translated from Hereford; later to York
1062	1095	Wulfstan (II.)
Source(s):

Conquest to Reformation

Bishops of Worcester
From	Until	Incumbent	Notes
1096	1112	Samson
1113	1123	Theulf	Nominated in 1113; consecrated in 1115
1125	1150	Simon
1151	1157	John de Pageham
1158	1160	Alured
1163	1179	Roger	Also recorded as Roger of Gloucester
1180	1185	Baldwin	Translated to Canterbury
1185	1190	William of Northall
1191	1193	Robert FitzRalph	Previously Archdeacon of Nottingham
1193	1195	Henry de Sully	Previously Abbot of Glastonbury Abbey
1196	1198	John of Coutances
1199	1212	Mauger	Elected in 1199, but quashed by Pope Innocent III; later postulated to the See; consecrated in 1200
1213	1214	Randulf of Evesham (bishop-elect)	Elected in December 1213, but quashed by the Papal legate, Niccolò de Romanis, in January 1214
1214	1216	Walter de Gray	Translated to York
1216	1218	Sylvester	Also recorded as Sylvester of Evesham
1218	1236	William de Blois
1237	1266	Walter de Cantilupe
1266	1268	Nicholas of Ely	Formerly Archdeacon of Ely;translated to Winchester
1268	1302	Godfrey Giffard
1302		John St German (bishop-elect)	Elected in March 1302, but quashed in October 1302
1302	1307	William Gainsborough
1307	1313	Walter Reynolds	Translated to Canterbury
1313	1317	Walter Maidstone
1317	1327	Thomas Cobham	Previously Archbishop-elect of Canterbury in 1313
1327		Wulstan Bransford (bishop-elect)	Elected bishop but was quashed; later elected in 1339
1327	1333	Adam Orleton	Translated from Hereford; later to Winchester
1333	1337	Simon Montacute	Translated to Ely
1337	1338	Thomas Hemenhale	Translated from Norwich
1339	1349	Wulstan Bransford
1349	1353	John of Thoresby	Translated from St David's; later to York
1352	1361	Reginald Brian	Translated from St David's
1362	1363	John Barnet	Translated to Bath and Wells; and later to Ely
1363	1368	William Whittlesey	Translated from Rochester; later to Canterbury
1368	1373	William Lenn	Translated from Chichester
1373	1375	Walter Lyghe (bishop-elect)	Elected in 1373, but quashed in 1375
1375	1395	Henry Wakefield
1394	1401	Robert Tideman of Winchcombe	Translated from Llandaff
1401	1407	Richard Clifford	Previously Bishop-elect of Bath and Wells; later translated to London
1407	1419	Thomas Peverel	Translated from Llandaff
1419	1426	Philip Morgan	Translated to Ely
1425	1433	Thomas Poulton	Translated from Chichester
1433	1435	Thomas Brunce (bishop-elect)	Elected bishop, but never consecrated; later became Bishop of Rochester
1434	1443	Thomas Bourchier	Translated to Ely; and later to Canterbury
1443	1476	John Carpenter	Nominated in 1443; consecrated in 1444; resigned the See in 1476
1476	1486	John Alcock	Translated from Rochester; later to Ely
1486	1497	Robert Morton	Nominated in 1486; consecrated in 1487
1497	1498	Giovanni de' Gigli
1498	1521	Silvestro de' Gigli
1521	1522	Giulio di Giuliano de' Medici (apostolic administrator)	Later became Pope of Rome
1522	1535	Girolamo Ghinucci	Deprived of the See by Henry VIII at the Act of Supremacy
Source(s):

During the Reformation

Bishops of Worcester
From	Until	Incumbent	Notes
1535	1539	Hugh Latimer	Resigned the See. Martyred under Mary I on 16 October 1555.
1539	1543	John Bell
1543	1551	Nicholas Heath (1st term)	Translated from Rochester; deprived of the See
1552	1554	John Hooper	Also Gloucester, 1550–1553; deprived of the See.
1554	1555	Nicholas Heath (2nd term)	Restored to the See; later translated to York
1555	1559	Richard Pate	Deprived of the See.
Source(s):

After the Reformation

Bishops of Worcester
From	Until	Incumbent	Notes
1559	1570	Edwin Sandys	Translated to London; and later to York
1571	1576	Nicholas Bullingham	Translated from Lincoln
1577	1583	John Whitgift	Translated to Canterbury
1584	1591	Edmund Freke	Translated from Norwich
1593	1595	Richard Fletcher	Translated from Bristol; later to London
1596	1597	Thomas Bilson	Translated to Winchester
1597	1610	Gervase Babington	Translated from Exeter
1610	1616	Henry Parry	Translated from Gloucester
1617	1641	John Thornborough	Translated from Bristol
1641	1646	John Prideaux	Deprived of the see when Parliament abolished bishops on 9 October 1646
1646	1660	Vacant during the Commonwealth and the Protectorate
1660	1662	George Morley	Translated to Winchester
1662		John Gauden	Translated from Exeter
1662	1663	John Earle	Translated to Salisbury
1663	1670	Robert Skinner	Translated from Bristol
1671	1675	Walter Blandford	Translated from Oxford
1675	1683	James Fleetwood
1683	1689	William Thomas	Translated from St David's
1689	1699	Edward Stillingfleet
1699	1717	William Lloyd	Translated from Lichfield and Coventry
1717	1743	John Hough	Translated from Lichfield and Coventry
1743	1759	Isaac Maddox	St Asaph
1759	1774	James Johnson	Translated from Gloucester
1774	1781	Brownlow North	Translated from Lichfield and Coventry; later to Winchester
1781	1808	Richard Hurd	Translated from Lichfield and Coventry
1808	1831	Folliott Cornewall	Translated from Hereford
1831	1841	Robert Carr	Translated from Chichester
1841	1860	Henry Pepys	Translated from Sodor and Man
1860	1890	Henry Philpott
1890	1902	John Perowne
1902	1905	Charles Gore	Translated to Birmingham; and later to Oxford
1905	1918	Huyshe Yeatman-Biggs	Translated from Southwark; later to Coventry
1919	1931	Ernest Pearce
1931	1941	Arthur Perowne	Translated to Bradford
1941	1956	William Wilson Cash
1956	1971	Lewis Charles-Edwards
1971	1982	Robin Woods
1982	1996	Philip Goodrich
1997	2007	Peter Selby	Previously Bishop of Kingston-upon-Thames (1984–1992). Also Bishop to HM Prisons (2001–2007)
2007	present	John Inge
Source(s):

Outside links

• Diocese of Worcester

Books

• Fryde, E. B.; Greenway, D. E.; Porter, S. et al., eds (1986). Handbook of British Chronology (3rd, reprinted 2003 ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-56350-X. 
• Fasti Ecclesiae Anglicanae 1066–1300, Vol 2: Monastic Cathedrals (Northern and Southern Provinces) - Greenway D E, 1971
• Fasti Ecclesiae Anglicanae 1541–1857, "Ely, Norwich, Westminster and Worcester Dioceses" - Horn J M, 1996
• Fasti Ecclesiae Anglicanae 1300–1541, Monastic Cathedrals (Southern Province) - Jones B 1962