The Dean of Canterbury is the head of the Chapter (religion), Chapter of Canterbury Cathedral, the Cathedral of Christ Church, Canterbury, England. The current office of dean (religion), Dean originated after the English Reformation, although Deans had also existed before this time; its immediate precursor office was the prior of the cathedral-monastery. The previous Dean, the Very Rev. Robert Willis (priest), Robert Willis, was appointed in 2001 and retired on 16 May 2022, a day before his 75th birthday, and it was announced on 8 May 2022 that the Rev. Jane Hedges, former Dean of Norwich, would serve as Acting Dean until a successor was appointed. The most recent Dean, David Monteith was appointed in 2022 and installed on December 17, 2022 and is the 40th Dean since the Reformation, though the position of Dean and Prior as the religious head of the community is almost identical so the line is unbroken back to the time of the foundation of the community by Saint Augustine in AD 597.

List of deans

820–1080

Version on show in the Cathedral (west end)

*Ceolnoth 820 *Aegelwyn 830 *Alfric *Kensyn *Maurice (dean), Maurice *Aelfwyn 930 *Alsine (dean), Alsine 935 *Aelfwyn II 951 *Athelsine *Æthelnoth (archbishop of Canterbury), Aegelnoth 984 (Æthelnoth, later Archbishop of Canterbury) *Egelric 1020 *Goderic 1058

Victoria County History, 1926

*Cuba, occurs 798 *Beornheard, occurs 805 *Heahfrith, occurs 813 *Ceolnoth, resigned 833 *Æthelwine, occurs c. 860 *Eadmund, occurs c.871 *Æthelnoth (archbishop of Canterbury), Æthelnoth, resigned 1020 *Godric, occurs 1020, 1023 *Æthelric, resigned 1058 *Ælfric *Ælfsige *Ælfwine *Ælfwine *Kynsige *Maurice

Priors of Canterbury

About a century after becoming a monastic foundation late in the 10th century, the Cathedral started to be headed by a prior rather than a dean. It would next have a dean after the Dissolution of the Monasteries.

Post-Reformation Deans

Early modern

*1541–1567 Nicholas Wotton (the first dean; simultaneously Dean of York) *1567–1584 Thomas Godwin (bishop), Thomas Godwin *1584–1597 Richard Rogers (bishop), Richard Rogers *1597–1615 Thomas Nevile *1615–1619 Charles Fotherby *1619–1625 John Boys (priest), John Boys *1625–1643 Isaac Bargrave *1643 George Aglionby *1643–1672 Thomas Turner (Dean of Canterbury), Thomas Turner *1672–1689 John Tillotson *1689–1691 John Sharp (bishop), John Sharp (afterwards Archbishop of York, 1691) *1691–1704 George Hooper (bishop), George Hooper *1704–1728 George Stanhope *1728–1733 Elias Sydall *1734–1760 John Lynch (Dean of Canterbury), John Lynch *1760–1766 William Freind *1766–1770 John Potter (priest), John Potter *1770–1771 Brownlow North *1771–1775 John Moore (archbishop of Canterbury), John Moore *1775–1781 The Hon James Cornwallis, 4th Earl Cornwallis, James Cornwallis *1781–1790 George Horne (bishop), George Horne *1790–1792 William Buller (bishop), William Buller *1793–1797 Folliott Cornewall

Late modern

*1797–1809 Thomas Powys (priest), Thomas Powys *1809–1825 Gerrard Andrewes *1825–1827 Hugh Percy (bishop), Hugh Percy *1827–1845 Richard Bagot (bishop), Richard Bagot *1845–1857 William Lyall (priest), William Lyall *1857–1871 Henry Alford *1871–1895 Robert Payne Smith *1895–1903 Frederic Farrar *1903–1924 Henry Wace (Anglican priest), Henry Wace *1924–1929 George Bell (bishop), George Bell *1929–1931 Dick Sheppard (priest), Dick Sheppard *1931–1963 Hewlett Johnson *1963–1976 Ian White-Thomson *1976–1986 Victor de Waal *1986–2000 John Simpson (priest), John Simpson *2000–2022 Robert Willis (priest), Robert Willis *2022 Jane Hedges acting *2022–present David Monteith (institution occurred on 17 December 2022)

References

External links

*
Fasti Ecclesiae Anglicanae 1541–1857: volume 3
' {{Deans in the Church of England Deans of Canterbury, Lists of English people, Deans of Canterbury