Diocese of Oxford

Diocese of Oxford Church of England
Province:	Canterbury
Arms of the Bishop of Oxford
Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford
Bishop:	Steven Croft
Cathedral:	Christ Church Cathedral
Organisation
Suffragan bishop(s):	Bishop of Dorchester, Bishop of Buckingham, Bishop of Reading
Archdeaconries:	Oxford, Buckingham, Berkshire, Dorchester
No. of parishes:	624
No. of churches:	847
Details
Website:	oxford.anglican.org

The Diocese of Oxford is a Church of England diocese within the Province of Canterbury. It encompasses Oxfordshire, Berkshire and Buckinghamshire.

The Bishop of Oxford presides over the diocese, and his seat is Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford, a unique cathedral in that it is within Christ Church College, part of the University of Oxford, and serves also as the college chapel.

History

The Diocese of Oxford was created by letters patent from King Henry VIII on 1 September 1542, out of part of the Diocese of Lincoln. Osney Abbey was designated the original cathedral, but in 1545 this was changed to St. Frideswide's which became Christ Church Cathedral.

In 1836 the Archdeaconry of Berkshire was transferred from the Diocese of Salisbury to Oxford.

In 1837 the County of Buckingham was similarly transferred from the then Diocese of Lincoln, to become the Archdeaconry of Buckingham, although this annexation did not take effect until 1845.

In 2013 and 2014, the Diocese of Oxford discussed and resolved to undertake some pastoral alterations; the new archdeaconry of Dorchester was created on 1 March 2014.

Organisation

The diocesan Bishop of Oxford is assisted by the area bishops of Dorchester, Buckingham, and Reading; during the vacancy in the diocesan see, the Bishop of Dorchester is acting bishop. The suffragan See of Buckingham was created in 1914, and was the suffragan bishop for the whole diocese until 1939 when the See of Dorchester was created; the See of Reading was re-created in 1942, after having been 'in abeyance' since 1909.

The provincial episcopal visitor (for parishes in this diocese – among twelve others in the western part of the Province of Canterbury – who reject the ministry of priests who are women, since 1994) is the Bishop of Ebbsfleet.

Since 1984, the diocese has been divided into three episcopal areas corresponding to its archdeaconries. The Bishop of Oxford has authority throughout the diocese, but also has primary responsibility for the city and suburbs of Oxford, which are part of the Archdeaconry of Oxford.

Bishops

Bishops of Oxford
From	Until	Incumbent	Notes
Seat at Osney
1542	1546	Robert King	Suffragan Bishop of Lincoln
Seat at Oxford
1546	1558	Robert King	Suffragan Bishop of Lincoln
1558	1559	Thomas Goldwell	Previously Bishop of St Asaph; deprived, fled to Milan, Naples and Rome
1559	1567	See vacant
1567	1568	Hugh Curwen	Translated from Dublin
1568	1589	See vacant
1589	1592	John Underhill	Rector of Lincoln College, Oxford
1592	1604	See vacant
1604	1618	John Bridges	Dean of Salisbury
1619	1628	John Howson	Student of Christ Church, Oxford; appointed Bishop of Durham
1628	1632	Richard Corbet	Dean of Christ Church, Oxford; appointed Bishop of Norwich
1632	1641	John Bancroft	Master of University College, Oxford
1641	1663	Robert Skinner	Translated from Bristol; deprived during the Commonwealth; restored in 1660; appointed Bishop of Worcester
1663	1665	William Paul	Dean of Lichfield
1665	1671	Walter Blandford	Warden of Wadham College, Oxford; appointed Bishop of Worcester
1671	1674	Nathaniel Crew	Rector of Lincoln College, Oxford, and Dean of Chichester; appointed Bishop of Durham
1674	1676	Henry Compton	Canon of Christ Church, Oxford; appointed Bishop of London
1676	1686	John Fell	Dean of Christ Church, Oxford
1686	1687	Samuel Parker	Archdeacon of Canterbury; died in office
1688	1690	Timothy Hall	Denied installation by the Chapter of Christ Church
1690	1699	John Hough	President of Magdalen College, Oxford; appointed Bishop of Lichfield
1699	1715	William Talbot	Dean of Worcester; appointed Bishop of Salisbury
1715	1737	John Potter	Regius Professor of Divinity, Oxford; appointed Archbishop of Canterbury
1737	1758	Thomas Secker	Bishop of Bristol; appointed Archbishop of Canterbury
1758	1766	John Hume	Bishop of Bristol; appointed Bishop of Salisbury
1766	1777	Robert Lowth	Bishop of St David's; appointed Bishop of London
1777	1788	John Butler	Prebendary of Winchester; appointed Bishop of Hereford
1788	1799	Edward Smallwell	Bishop of St David's
1799	1807	John Randolph	Regius Professor of Divinity, Oxford; appointed Bishop of Bangor
1807	1811	Charles Moss
1812	1815	William Jackson	Regius Professor of Greek, Oxford
1816	1827	Edward Legge	Dean of Windsor
1827	1829	Charles Lloyd	Regius Professor of Divinity, Oxford
1829	1845	Richard Bagot	Dean of Canterbury; appointed Bishop of Bath and Wells
1845	1869	Samuel Wilberforce	Dean of Westminster; translated to Winchester
1870	1889	John Mackarness	Prebendary of Exeter
1889	1901	William Stubbs	Bishop of Chester
1901	1911	Francis Paget	Dean of Christ Church, Oxford
1911	1919	Charles Gore	Bishop of Birmingham; resigned
1919	1925	Hubert Burge	Bishop of Southwark
1925	1937	Thomas Strong	Bishop of Ripon; resigned
1937	1954	Kenneth Kirk	Regius Professor of Moral and Pastoral Theology, Oxford
1955	1970	Harry Carpenter	Warden of Keble College, Oxford; resigned
1971	1978	Kenneth Woollcombe	Principal of Edinburgh Theological College; resigned
1978	1986	Patrick Rodger	Bishop of Manchester; resigned
1987	2006	Richard Harries	Dean of King's College, London; ennobled on retirement
2006	2014	John Pritchard	Suffragan Bishop of Jarrow
2014	present	Colin Fletcher, acting bishop	Area Bishop of Dorchester The unusually long vacancy was due to the Crown Nominations Commission failing to appoint in May 2015, and having to rejoin the back of the 'queue' for a second chance in March 2016.
6 July 2016	present	Steven Croft	Translated from Sheffield

Outside links

• Diocese of Oxford
• Churches in the Diocese of Oxford ("A Church Near You")

References

• Church of England Statistics 2002