The Bishop of St Albans is the Ordinary of the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Brit ...

Diocese of St Albans The Diocese of St Albans forms part of the Province of Canterbury in England and is part of the wider Church of England, in turn part of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The diocese is home to more than 1.6 million people and comprises the hi ...

in the

Province of Canterbury The Province of Canterbury, or less formally the Southern Province, is one of two ecclesiastical provinces which constitute the Church of England. The other is the Province of York (which consists of 12 dioceses). Overview The Province consist ...

. The bishop is supported in his work by two suffragan bishops, the

Bishop of Hertford The Bishop of Hertford is an episcopal title used by a suffragan bishop of the Church of England Diocese of St Albans, in the Province of Canterbury, England. The suffragan See was created by Order in Council of 5 July 1889, but remained dorman ...

and the

Bishop of Bedford The Bishop of Bedford is an episcopal title used by a Church of England suffragan bishop who, under the direction of the Diocesan Bishop of St Albans, oversees 150 parishes in Luton and Bedfordshire. The title, which takes its name after the to ...

, and three

archdeacon An archdeacon is a senior clergy position in the Church of the East, Chaldean Catholic Church, Syriac Orthodox Church, Anglican Communion, St Thomas Christians, Eastern Orthodox churches and some other Christian denominations, above that of mo ...

s. The

diocese In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associ ...

covers the counties of

Bedfordshire Bedfordshire (; abbreviated Beds) is a ceremonial county in the East of England. The county has been administered by three unitary authorities, Borough of Bedford, Central Bedfordshire and Borough of Luton, since Bedfordshire County Council ...

and

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is one of the home counties in southern England. It borders Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire to the north, Essex to the east, Greater London to the south, and Buckinghamshire to the west. For gov ...

, as well as parts of the London Borough of Barnet. The see is in the

City of St Albans The City and District of St Albans () is a local authority district in Hertfordshire in the East of England region. The main urban settlements are St Albans and Harpenden. The council offices are in St Albans. History St Albans City and ...

in Hertfordshire, where the

cathedra A ''cathedra'' is the raised throne of a bishop in the early Christian basilica. When used with this meaning, it may also be called the bishop's throne. With time, the related term ''cathedral'' became synonymous with the "seat", or principal ...

(bishop's seat) is located at

St Albans Cathedral St Albans Cathedral, officially the Cathedral and Abbey Church of St Alban but often referred to locally as "the Abbey", is a Church of England cathedral in St Albans, England. Much of its architecture dates from Norman times. It ceased to be ...

. The cathedral building itself was an abbey church (part of St Albans Abbey) prior to the Dissolution of the Monasteries. Following its purchase by the town in 1553, it was then a parish church until its elevation to cathedral status in 1877, when the diocese was created from the diocese of Rochester under

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 216 days was longer than that of any previ ...

by the Bishopric of St. Albans Act 1875.

Incumbent

The current incumbent is Alan Smith, 10th Bishop of St Albans, who signs ''+ Alan St Albans''. His nomination was announced by Downing Street on 13 January 2009, following the retirement of Christopher Herbert. Smith's election as bishop by the College of Canons of the Cathedral took place on 13 February and his Confirmation of Election with the

Archbishop of Canterbury The archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and a principal leader of the Church of England, the ceremonial head of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. The current archbishop is Just ...

Rowan Williams followed on 31 March, at which point he legally took office as bishop. Smith was enthroned on 19 September 2009.Diocese of St Albans – New Bishop a step closer (Archived 9 June 2009)
(Accessed 11 April 2014) The Bishop's residence is the Abbey Gate House, St Albans.

List of bishops

Assistant bishops

Among those who have served as assistant bishops in the diocese are: *19141924 (ret.): Noel Hodges, former Bishop of Travancore and Cochin and Assistant Bishop of Durham and of Ely *19241934 (d.): Gerard Lander, Vicar of Holy Trinity New Barnet (until 1933), Archdeacon of Bedford (after 1933), and former

Bishop of Victoria The Bishop of Victoria, Hong Kong was (from 1849 to 1951) the Ordinary of a corporation sole including Hong Kong and South China that ministered to 20,000 Anglicans. Bishops *18491865 (ret.): George SmithHandbook to the Diocese of Victoria (Hong K ...

*19421951 (ret.):

Bernard Heywood Bernard Oliver Francis Heywood (1 March 1871March 1960) was a bishop in the Church of England. Family and education Heywood was born into a distinguished ecclesiastical family, the sixth son of Henry Robinson Heywood, priest and honorary canon o ...

Canon Residentiary A canon (from the Latin , itself derived from the Greek , , "relating to a rule", "regular") is a member of certain bodies in subject to an ecclesiastical rule. Originally, a canon was a cleric living with others in a clergy house or, later, i ...

of St Albans Abbey and retired

Bishop of Ely The Bishop of Ely is the ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Ely in the Province of Canterbury. The diocese roughly covers the county of Cambridgeshire (with the exception of the Soke of Peterborough), together with a section of nor ...

*1961–1968 (res.): John Boys, Canon of St Albans and former

Bishop of Kimberley and Kuruman The Diocese of Kimberley and Kuruman is a diocese in the Anglican Church of Southern Africa, and encompasses the area around Kimberley and Kuruman and overlaps the Northern Cape Province and North West Province of South Africa. It is presided ove ...

References

Bibliography

* * ''Whitaker's Almanack 1883 to 2004'', Joseph Whitaker and Sons Ltd/A&C Black, London. {{Anglican Bishops & Archbishops - Great Britain

St Albans St Albans () is a cathedral city in Hertfordshire, England, east of Hemel Hempstead and west of Hatfield, north-west of London, south-west of Welwyn Garden City and south-east of Luton. St Albans was the first major town on the old Roman ...

Diocese of St Albans