Bishop of Rochester
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The Bishop of Rochester is the Ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Rochester in the Province of Canterbury.
The diocese covers the west of the County of Kent. The see is in the City of Rochester where the seat is located at The Cathedral Church of Christ and the Blessed Virgin Mary, which was founded as a cathedral in 604. For the late 17th and the 18th century it was customary for the Bishop of Rochester to also be appointed Dean of Westminster Abbey.
The Bishop's residence is Bishopscourt, Rochester, Kent.
The office was created in 604 at the founding of the diocese in the Kingdom of Kent under King Æthelbert. The current bishop is the Right Reverend Dr Michael James Nazir-Ali, PhD, the 106th Lord Bishop of Rochester, who signs Michael Roffen.
The diocese of Rochester was historically the oldest and smallest of all the suffragan sees of Canterbury. Founded by St Augustine, who in 604 consecrated St Justus as its first bishop. The diocesan territory consisted roughly of the Western part of Kent, separated from the rest of the county by the Medway, though the diocesan boundaries did not follow the river very closely. Rochester cathedral, founded by King Æthelbert and dedicated to St Andrew, like the Roman monastery from which St Augustine and St Justus had set out for England, was served by a college of secular priests and endowed with land near the city called Priestfield.
While it suffered much from the Mercians (676) and the Danes, the city retained its importance, and after the Norman Conquest a new cathedral was begun by the Norman bishop Gundulf. He also replaced the secular chaplains by Benedictine monks, translated the relics of St Paulinus to a silver shrine that became a place of pilgrimage, obtained several royal grants of land, and proved a great benefactor to his cathedral city. By the time of Gundulf's death he had built the nave and Western front, the Western transept being added between 1179 and 1200 and the Eastern transept during the reign of Henry III. The cathedral is small, being only 306 feet long, but its nave is the oldest in England and it has a fine Norman crypt.
Besides the shrine of St Paulinus, the cathedral contained the relics of St Ithamar, the first Saxon to be consecrated bishop, and of St William of Perth. In 1130 the cathedral was consecrated by the [Archbishop of Canterbury], assisted by thirteen bishops in the presence of Henry I, but the occasion was marred by a great fire which nearly destroyed the whole city and damaged the new cathedral. After the burial of St William of Perth, a murdered Scottish pilgrim, in 1201 the offerings at his tomb were so great, that by their means the choir was rebuilt and the central tower was added (1343), thus completing the cathedral. From the foundation of the see the Archbishop of Canterbury had enjoyed the privilege of nominating the bishop, but Archbishop Theobald transferred the right to the Benedictine monks of the cathedral, who exercised it for the first time in 1148.
The restricted territory of the diocese meant that it needed only one archdeacon to supervise all 97 parishes.
List of the Bishops of the Diocese of Rochester, England
Bishops of Rochester who were also concurrently Dean of Westminster are marked with an asterisk.
| Tenure | Incumbent | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 604 to 624 | Justus | |
| 624 to 633 | Romanus | |
| 633 to 644 | Paulinus | |
| 644 to 664 | Ithamar | |
| 664 to 669 | Damianus | |
| 669 to 676 | Putta | |
| 676 to 678 | Cwichelm | |
| 678 to 716 | Gebmund | |
| 716 to 727 | Tobias | |
| 727 to 741 | Aldwulf | |
| 741 to 747 | Dunn | |
| 747 to 772 | Eardwulf | |
| 772 to 785 | Diora | |
| 785 to 805 | Waermund I | |
| 805 to 844 | Beornmod | |
| 844 to 868 | Tatnoth | |
| 868 to 868 | Badenoth | |
| 868 to 868 | Waermund II | |
| 868 to 880 | Cuthwulf | |
| 880 to 900 | Swithwulf | |
| 900 to c.926 | Ceolmund | |
| c.926 to c.934 | Cyneferth | |
| c.934 to 949 | Burhric | |
| 949 to 955 | Beorhtsige | |
| 955 to 964 | Daniel | Bishop of Rochester or Selsey |
| 964 to 995 | Ælfstan | |
| 995 to 1046 | Godwine I | |
| 1046 to 1058 | Godwine II | |
| 1058 to 1076 | Siward | |
| 1076 to 1077 | Arnost | |
| 1077 to 1108 | Gundulf | |
| 1108 to 1115 | Ralph d'Escures | |
| 1115 to 1125 | Ernulf | |
| 1125 to 1137 | John | |
| 1137 to 1142 | John II | |
| 1142 to 1148 | Ascelin | |
| 1148 to 1182 | Walter | |
| 1182 to 1185 | Waleran | |
| 1185 to 1215 | Gilbert Glanvill | |
| 1215 to 1227 | Benedict of Sausetun (Benedict of Sawston) | |
| 1227 to 1238 | Henry Sandford | |
| 1238 to 1251 | Richard Wendene | |
| 1251 to 1274 | Lawrence of St Martin | |
| 1274 to 1278 | Walter de Merton | |
| 1278 to 1283 | John Bradfield | |
| 1283 to 1292 | Thomas Ingoldsthorpe | |
| 1292 to 1319 | Thomas of Wouldham | |
| 1319 to 1353 | Hamo Hethe | |
| 1353 to 1362 | John Sheppey | |
| 1362 to 1364 | William of Whittlesey | |
| 1364 to 1373 | Thomas Trilleck | |
| 1373 to 1389 | Thomas Brinton | |
| 1389 to 1400 | William Bottlesham (William Bottisham) | |
| 1400 to 1404 | John Bottlesham | |
| 1404 to 1419 | Richard Young | |
| 1419 to 1422 | John Kempe | |
| 1422 to 1435 | John Langdon | |
| 1435 to 1437 | Thomas Brouns | |
| 1437 to 1444 | William Wells | |
| 1444 to 1468 | John Low | |
| 1468 to 1472 | Thomas Rotherham (Thomas Scott) | |
| 1472 to 1476 | John Alcock | |
| 1476 to 1480 | John Russell | |
| 1480 to 1493 | Edmund Audley | |
| 1493 to 1497 | Thomas Savage | |
| 1497 to 1504 | Richard Fitz-James | |
| 1504 to 1535 | John Fisher | |
| 1535 to 1540 | John Hilsey (John Hildesleigh) | |
| 1540 to 1544 | Nicolas Heath | |
| 1544 to 1547 | Henry Holbeach | |
| 1547 to 1550 | Nicholas Ridley | |
| 1550 to 1551 | John Ponet (John Poynet) | |
| 1551 to 1552 | John Scory | |
| 1554 to 1558 | Maurice Griffith | |
| 1559 | Edmund Allen | died before filling his position |
| 1560 to 1572 | Edmund Gheast (Edmund Guest) | |
| 1572 to 1576 | Edmund Freke | |
| 1576 to 1578 | John Piers | |
| 1578 to 1605 | John Young | |
| 1605 to 1608 | William Barlow | |
| 1608 to 1611 | Richard Neile | |
| 1611 to 1628 | John Buckeridge | |
| 1628 to 1630 | Walter Curil | |
| 1630 to 1638 | John Bowle | |
| 1638 to 1666 | John Warner | |
| 1666 to 1683 | John Dolben * | |
| 1683 to 1684 | Francis Turner | |
| 1684 to 1713 | Thomas Sprat * | |
| 1713 to 1723 | Francis Atterbury * | |
| 1723 to 1731 | Samuel Bradford * | |
| 1731 to 1756 | Joseph Wilcocks * | |
| 1756 to 1774 | Zachary Pearce * | |
| 1774 to 1793 | John Thomas * | |
| 1793 to 1802 | Samuel Horsley * | |
| 1802 to 1809 | Thomas Dampier | |
| 1809 to 1827 | Walker King | |
| 1827 to 1827 | Hugh Percy | |
| 1827 to 1860 | George Murray | |
| 1860 to 1867 | Joseph Cotton Wigram | |
| 1867 to 1877 | Thomas Legh Claughton | |
| 1877 to 1891 | Anthony Wilson Thorold | |
| 1891 to 1895 | Randall Thomas Davidson | |
| 1895 to 1905 | Edward Stuart Talbot | |
| 1905 to 1930 | John Reginald Harmer | |
| 1930 to 1940 | Martin Linton Smith | |
| 1940 to 1961 | Christopher Maude Chavasse | |
| 1961 to 1988 | Richard David Say, DD | |
| 1988 to 1994 | Anthony Michael Arnold Turnbull | |
| 1994 to present | Dr Michael James Nazir-Ali, PhD |
| Anglican Hierarchy in Great Britain | ||
| Provincial metropolitans | Diocesan bishops | |
| The Church of England | ||
| Archbishop of Canterbury>Canterbury | Bath & Wells | Birmingham | Bristol | Saint Edmundsbury & Ipswich | Chelmsford | Chichester | Coventry | Derby | Ely | Exeter | Gibraltar in Europe | Gloucester | Guildford | Hereford | Leicester | Lichfield | Lincoln | London | Norwich | Oxford | Peterborough | Portsmouth | Rochester | Saint Albans | Salisbury | Southwark | Truro | Winchester | Worcester | |
| Archbishop of York>York | Blackburn | Bradford | Carlisle | Chester | Durham | Liverpool | Manchester | Newcastle | Ripon and Leeds | Sheffield | Sodor & Man | Southwell | Wakefield | |
| The Church in Wales | ||
| Archbishop of Wales>Wales | Bangor | Llandaff | Monmouth | Saint Asaph | Saint David's | Swansea & Brecon | |
| The Scottish Episcopal Church | ||
| Primus of the Scottish Episcopal Church>Primus | Aberdeen and Orkney | Argyll & the Isles | Brechin | Edinburgh | Glasgow & Galloway | Moray, Ross & Caithness | Saint Andrews, Dunkeld & Dunblane | |
| [http://encycl.opentopia.com/ edit this box] | ||
Sources
- Haydn's Book of Dignities (1894) Joseph Haydn/Horace Ockerby, reprinted 1969
- Whitaker's Almanack 1883 to 2004, Joseph Whitaker and Sons Ltd/A&C Black, London
See also
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