Anglican Diocese of Manchester

Diocese of the Church of England

For the Catholic diocese in the US, see Roman Catholic Diocese of Manchester.

A request that this article title be changed to Diocese of Manchester (United Kingdom) is under discussion. Please do not move this article until the discussion is closed.

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Diocese of Manchester

Dioecesis Mancuniensis

Coat of arms

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Location
Country| England
Ecclesiastical province| York
Archdeaconries| Bolton, Manchester, Rochdale, Salford
Statistics
Parishes| 292
Churches| 353
Information
Cathedral| Manchester Cathedral
Language| English
Current leadership
Bishop| David Walker, Bishop of Manchester
Suffragans| Mark Davies, Bishop of Middleton
Matthew Porter, Bishop of Bolton
Archdeacons| David Sharples, Archdeacon of Rochdale
Karen Lund, Archdeacon of Manchester
Rachel Mann, Archdeacon of Bolton and Salford
Website
manchester.anglican.org

The Diocese of Manchester is a Church of England diocese in the Province of York, England. Based in the city of Manchester, the diocese covers much of the county of Greater Manchester and small areas of the counties of Lancashire and Cheshire.

## History[edit]

After passage of the Bishopric of Manchester Act 1847, the Diocese of Manchester was founded on 1 September 1847,[1] having previously been part of the Diocese of Chester.

The diocese was founded in accordance with the Third Report of the Ecclesiastical Commissioners, appointed to consider the state of the Established Church in England and Wales, printed in 1836. It recommended the formation of the Bishopric of Manchester, and the Ecclesiastical Commissioners Act 1836 (6 and 7 William IV cap. 77)[2] was passed that year whereby the King, by Order-in-Council was empowered to carry into effect the recommendations of the commissioners. It provided that the sees of St Asaph and Bangor should be united on the next vacancy in either, and on that occurring the Bishop of Manchester should be created.

The union of the sees never took place and the Bishopric of Manchester Act 1847 was brought forward which authorised the Ecclesiastical Commissioners to bring forward an alternative reorganisation scheme in Chambers which received royal assent and the bishopric was constituted.[3]

The diocese on its creation in 1847 originally covered the historic hundreds of Salford, Blackburn, Leyland and Amounderness and the Parish of Leigh, which lay in the hundred of West Derby. However, with the creation of the Diocese of Blackburn in 1926, which took the three northern hundreds, Manchester was left with just the hundred of Salford and Leigh. The final boundary change to the diocese was in 1933, by annexing Wythenshawe from the Diocese of Chester.[4]

At the same time the diocese was founded, the collegiate church in Manchester was elevated to cathedral status to become the Cathedral Church of St Mary, St Denys and St George where the bishop's throne (cathedra) is located.[5]

## Organisation[edit]

### Bishops[edit]

The diocesan Bishop of Manchester, David Walker, is the ordinary of the diocese and is assisted by Mark Davies, Bishop suffragan of Middleton, and a Bishop suffragan of Bolton (Matthew Porter). The Bishop of Middleton oversees the archdeaconries of Manchester and Rochdale, and the Bishop of Bolton the archdeaconries of Bolton and Salford. Alternative episcopal oversight (for parishes in the diocese who reject the ministry of priests who are women) is provided by the provincial episcopal visitor (PEV) the Bishop suffragan of Beverley, Glyn Webster. He is licensed as an honorary assistant bishop of the diocese in order to facilitate his work there. Besides Webster, there are four retired honorary assistant bishops licensed in the diocese:

* 1999–present: Frank Sargeant, former Bishop at Lambeth lives in Salford (and is also licensed in Liverpool.)[6]
* 2008–present: Rupert Hoare, former area Bishop of Dudley, lives in Friezeland.[7]
* 2011–present: Graham Dow, a retired Bishop of Carlisle, lives in Romiley in the neighbouring Diocese of Chester, where he is also licensed as an HAB.[8]
* 2012–present: retired former Bishop of Sheffield Jack Nicholls lives in, and is also licensed in, neighbouring Derby diocese.[9]

### Archdeaconries and deaneries[edit]

The diocese is divided into four archdeaconries, each divided into a number of deaneries.[10]

Archdeaconry of Manchester (created 1843)

* Deanery of Ardwick
* Deanery of Heaton
* Deanery of Hulme
* Deanery of North Manchester
* Deanery of Stretford
* Deanery of Withington

Archdeaconry of Rochdale (created 1910)

* Deanery of Ashton-under-Lyne
* Deanery of Heywood and Middleton
* Deanery of Rochdale
* Deanery of Oldham East
* Deanery of Oldham West

Archdeaconry of Bolton (created 1982)

* Deanery of Bolton
* Deanery of Bury
* Deanery of Deane
* Deanery of Radcliffe and Prestwich
* Deanery of Rossendale
* Deanery of Walmsley

Archdeaconry of Salford (created 2009)[11]

* Deanery of Eccles
* Deanery of Leigh
* Deanery of Salford

## See also[edit]

* Diocese of Salford
* List of churches in Greater Manchester
* Dean of Manchester
* Archdeacon of Manchester
* Archdeacon of Bolton
* Archdeacon of Rochdale

## References[edit]

1. ^ "No. 20769". The London Gazette. 31 August 1847. pp. 3157–3160.
2. ^ Text of Ecclesiastical Commissioners Act 1836
3. ^ Haydn's Book of Dignities, 1851, p 379.
4. ^ Manchester and its many bishops. BBC. Retrieved 17 February 2009.
5. ^ Manchester Cathedral official website, Retrieved 17 February 2009.
6. ^ "Sargeant, Rt Rev. Frank Pilkington". Who's Who. Vol. 2014 (December 2013 online ed.). A & C Black. Retrieved 26 April 2014. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
7. ^ "Hoare, Rt Rev. Rupert William Noel". Who's Who. Vol. 2014 (December 2013 online ed.). A & C Black. Retrieved 26 April 2014. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
8. ^ "Dow, Rt Rev. Geoffrey Graham". Who's Who. Vol. 2014 (December 2013 online ed.). A & C Black. Retrieved 26 April 2014. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
9. ^ "Nicholls, Rt Rev. John". Who's Who. Vol. 2014 (December 2013 online ed.). A & C Black. Retrieved 26 April 2014. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
10. ^ "Churches". Diocese of Manchester. Archived from the original on 14 June 2009. Retrieved 3 June 2009.
11. ^ Diocese of Manchester – New Archdeacon of Salford

## Further reading[edit]

* Dobb, Arthur J. (1978) Like a Mighty Tortoise: the history of the Diocese of Manchester; illustrated by Arthur J. Dobb and Derek Simpson. [Manchester] : [The author] ; Littleborough : [Distributed by] Upjohn and Bottomley (Printers)
* Dobb, Arthur J. et al. (comps.; 2007) The Mighty Tortoise Marches On; or the Seven Stages of Man...chester. (The present study... began by being asked to prepare a presentation on the diocese for the annual national conference of the Central Council for the Care of Churches to be held in Manchester in 2009", preface)

## External links[edit]

* Official website

* v
* t
* e

Anglican dioceses in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Isle of Man and Channel Islands

Church of England
(list of dioceses)|

| Province
of Canterbury|

* Bath and Wells
* Birmingham
* Bristol
* Canterbury
* Chelmsford
* Chichester
* Coventry
* Derby
* Ely
* Europe
* Exeter
* Gloucester
* Guildford
* Hereford
* Leicester
* Lichfield
* Lincoln
* London
* Norwich
* Oxford
* Peterborough
* Portsmouth
* Rochester
* St Albans
* St Edmundsbury and Ipswich
* Salisbury
* Southwark
* Truro
* Winchester
* Worcester

|

Province
of York|

* Blackburn
* Carlisle
* Chester
* Durham
* Leeds
* Liverpool
* Manchester
* Newcastle
* Sheffield
* Sodor and Man
* Southwell and Nottingham
* York

Church in Wales|

* Bangor
* Llandaff
* Monmouth
* St Asaph
* St Davids
* Swansea and Brecon

Scottish Episcopal Church|

* Aberdeen and Orkney
* Argyll and The Isles
* Brechin
* Edinburgh
* Glasgow and Galloway
* Moray, Ross and Caithness
* St Andrews, Dunkeld and Dunblane

Church of Ireland|

| Province of Armagh|

* Armagh
* Clogher
* Connor
* Derry and Raphoe
* Down and Dromore
* Kilmore, Elphin and Ardagh

|

Province of Dublin|

* Cashel and Ossory
* Cork, Cloyne and Ross
* Dublin and Glendalough
* Tuam, Limerick and Killaloe
* Meath and Kildare

* v
* t
* e

Anglican Diocese of Manchester

* Manchester Cathedral
* Bishopscourt, Broughton
* Church House, Manchester

Office holders|

* David Walker, Bishop of Manchester
* Mark Davies, Bishop suffragan of Middleton
* Matthew Porter, Bishop suffragan of Bolton
* AEO: Stephen Race, Bishop suffragan of Beverley & Rob Munro, Bishop suffragan of Ebbsfleet
* Rogers Govender, Dean of Manchester
* David Sharples, Archdeacon of Rochdale
* Karen Lund, Archdeacon of Manchester
* Rachel Mann, Archdeacon of Bolton and Salford

Historic offices|

* Bishop suffragan of Burnley (1901–1926; moved to Diocese of Blackburn)
* Bishop suffragan of Whalley (1909–1926; moved to Diocese of Blackburn)
* Bishop suffragan of Hulme (1924–2009)
* Archdeacon of Lancaster (1847–1926; became Diocese of Blackburn)
* Archdeacon of Blackburn (1877–1926; became Diocese of Blackburn)

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