"The Bishop's House", Coventry.

The Bishop of Coventry is the ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Coventry in the Province of Canterbury. In the Middle Ages, the Bishop of Coventry was a title used by the bishops known today as the Bishop of Lichfield.

The present diocese covers most of the County of Warwickshire. The see is in the City of Coventry where the bishop's seat is located at the Cathedral Church of Saint Michael. The Bishop's residence is Bishop's House, Coventry.

History

Main article: Bishop of Lichfield

From 1102 to 1238, the former Benedictine Priory and Cathedral of St Mary in the city was the seat of the early Bishops of Coventry (previously known as Bishops of Chester or of Lichfield). It was, afterwards, one of the two seats of the Bishop of Coventry and Lichfield until the Reformation of the 1530s when Coventry (St Mary's) Cathedral was demolished and the bishop's seat moved to Lichfield, though the title remained as Bishop of Lichfield and Coventry until 1837, when Coventry was united with the Diocese of Worcester.[1]

Further information: Bishop of Coventry (suffragan)

Bishops of the modern diocese

The diocese was revived in 1918 under King George V when the parish church of Saint Michael was elevated to cathedral status. The cathedral suffered under fire-bombing by the Luftwaffe on the night of 14 November 1940 and remains today as a dignified ruin adjacent to the new cathedral building consecrated on 25 May 1962. The 8th Bishop of Coventry was Colin Bennetts, who retired on 31 January 2008.[2]

Christopher Cocksworth resigned as Bishop of Coventry effective 5 November 2023, to become Dean of Windsor.[3] Because the suffragan See of Warwick is also vacant, so Ruth Worsley (Bishop of Taunton in the Diocese of Bath and Wells) has been seconded part-time as Acting Bishop of Coventry since 6 November.[4]

List of bishops

Bishops of Coventry
From Until Incumbent Notes
1918 1922 Huyshe Yeatman-Biggs Translated from Worcester.
1922 1931 Charles Lisle Carr Translated to Hereford.
1931 1943 Mervyn Haigh Translated to Winchester.
1943 1955 Neville Gorton
1956 1976 Cuthbert Bardsley Translated from Croydon.
1976 1985 John Gibbs Translated from Bradwell.
1985 1997 Simon Barrington-Ward
1998 2008 Colin Bennetts Translated from Buckingham.
2008 2023 Christopher Cocksworth Resigned in November 2023 to become Dean of Windsor[5]
2023 acting Ruth Worsley, Acting Bishop Also Bishop of Taunton[4]
Source(s): [6][7]

Assistant bishops

Among those who have served as assistant bishops of the diocese have been:

References

  1. ^ Fryde et al. 1986, Handbook of British Chronology, pp. 253–255.
  2. ^ "New Bishop of Coventry". Coventry Diocese. 3 March 2008. Archived from the original on 16 March 2008. Retrieved 14 March 2008.
  3. ^ "Vacancy in See". Diocese of Coventry. Archived from the original on 27 October 2023. Retrieved 27 October 2023.
  4. ^ a b "Acting Bishop of Coventry". Diocese of Coventry. Archived from the original on 21 December 2023. Retrieved 21 December 2023.
  5. ^ "Christopher Cocksworth to be appointed the Dean of Windsor". Diocese of Coventry. 20 June 2023. Archived from the original on 20 June 2023. Retrieved 20 June 2023.
  6. ^ Fryde et al. 1986, Handbook of British Chronology, p. 241.
  7. ^ "Historical successions: Coventry". Crockford's Clerical Directory. Retrieved 6 January 2012.
  8. ^ "Heywood, Richard Stanley". Who's Who. A & C Black. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  9. ^ "Davis, Nathaniel William Newnham". Who's Who. A & C Black. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  10. ^ "Obituaries: Bishop John David McKie". Church Times. No. 6844. 15 April 1994. p. 6. ISSN 0009-658X. Retrieved 15 February 2021 – via UK Press Online archives.
  11. ^ "McKie, John David". Who's Who. A & C Black. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  12. ^ "Daly, John Charles Sydney". Who's Who. A & C Black. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  13. ^ "Bishop Saju to support Coventry Diocese during Vacancy-in-See". Diocese of Leicester. 13 September 2023. Archived from the original on 16 November 2023. Retrieved 21 December 2023.

Bibliography

  • Crockford's Clerical Directory (100th ed.). London: Church House Publishing. 2007. ISBN 978-0-7151-1030-0.
  • Fryde, E. B.; Greenway, D. E.; Porter, S.; Roy, I., eds. (1986). Handbook of British Chronology (3rd, reprinted 2003 ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-56350-X.

External links

Bishops of Coventry
Anglican hierarchy in Great Britain and Ireland
Categories