The

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 Church, Eastern Orthodox churches and some other Christian denomina ...

s in the

Diocese of Liverpool The diocese of Liverpool is a diocese of the Church of England in North West England. The diocese covers Merseyside north of the River Mersey, south-west Lancashire, western Greater Manchester, and part of northern Cheshire. Liverpool Cathedral ...

are senior ecclesiastical officers in the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...

in a highly irregular area surrounding the city of

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

. They are the archdeacons of Liverpool, of St Helens and Warrington, of Knowsley and Sefton, and of Wigan and West Lancashire; each one has responsibility over a geographical area within the diocese. The archdeacons are responsible for the disciplinary supervision of the clergy within their archdeaconries.

History

The Archdeaconry of Liverpool was originally created on 10 August 1847 (from the

Archdeaconry of Chester The Archdeacon of Chester is a senior ecclesiastical officer in the diocese of Chester. The area in which she, or he, has statutory duties is the Archdeaconry of Chester – those duties include some pastoral care and disciplinary supervision of t ...

deaneries of Wirral and Warrington) in the

Diocese of Chester The Diocese of Chester is a Church of England diocese in the Province of York covering the pre-1974 county of Cheshire and therefore including the Wirral and parts of Stockport, Trafford and Tameside. History Ancient diocese Before the si ...

and transferred to the Diocese of Liverpool when the latter was created on 9 April 1880. The Archdeaconry of Warrington was created from the Archdeaconry of Liverpool on 17 July 1880. Prior to the 2015 reorganisation, the old Liverpool archdeaconry consisted of eight area deaneries: Bootle, Huyton, Liverpool North, Liverpool South-Childwall, Sefton, Toxteth and Wavertree, Walton, and West Derby; and the old Warrington archdeaconry of seven: North Meols, Ormskirk, St Helens, Warrington, Widnes, Wigan, and Winwick.

Reorganisation

Per the diocese's mission paper, ''Fit for Mission'', prepared by

Paul Bayes Paul Bayes (born 1953) is an English Anglican retired bishop. He served as Bishop of Hertford, a suffragan bishop in the Church of England's Diocese of St Albans from 2010 to 2014, and then as Bishop of Liverpool from 2014 to 2022. Early life ...

, the then-new

Bishop of Liverpool The Bishop of Liverpool is the ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Liverpool in the Province of York.''Crockford's Clerical Directory'', 100th edition, (2007), Church House Publishing. . The diocese stretches from Southport in the n ...

, the archdeaconries of the diocese were reorganised not long after the retirement of Peter Bradley as Archdeacon of Warrington at the end of October 2015. On 29 May 2015, it was announced that four archdeaconries would exist after the reorganisation: Liverpool (reduced in size from its current area), Knowsley and Sefton, St Helens and Warrington, and Wigan and West Lancashire; on 9 August three archdeacons-designate were announced, and it was further indicated it was hoped the reorganisation could be completed in time to collate the new archdeacons on 14 November 2015. On 5 November 2015, it was announced that Bayes had signed the pastoral order effecting the boundary changes and erection of the new archdeaconries.Diocese of Liverpool — Bishop of Liverpool signs pastoral order
(Accessed 20 November 2015) Following the reorganisation, the (reduced) Liverpool archdeaconry consists of five deaneries: Liverpool North, Liverpool South-Childwall, Toxteth and Wavertree, Walton, and West Derby; Knowsley and Sefton archdeaconry of four: Bootle, Huyton, North Meols, and Sefton; St Helens and Warrington archdeaconry of four: St Helens, Warrington, Widnes, and Winwick; and Wigan and West Lancashire archdeaconry of two: Ormskirk, and Wigan. At Bishop's Council in May 2023, it was agreed that the (vacant) Archdeaconry of Wigan and West Lancashire would be dissolved, the deanery of Wigan moved to St Helens archdeaconry, and the deanery of Ormskirk to Knowsley archdeaconry. On 1 November 2024, a Bishop's Pastoral Order gave effect to the council's decision.

List of archdeacons

Archdeacons of Liverpool

* 29 September 1848 – 28 September 1855 (d.): Jonathan Brooks * 30 October 1855 – 1886 (res.): John Jones :''Since 9 April 1880, the archdeaconry has been in Liverpool diocese.'' :''On 17 July 1880, the Archdeaconry of Warrington was split from the Liverpool archdeaconry.'' * 1886–1887 (res.):

John Bardsley John Wareing Bardsley (29 March 1835 – 14 March 1914) was the Bishop of Carlisle. He was the son of Canon James Bardsley, once a Bradford curate. As a boy he lived in Church Street, Burnley, attending Burnley Grammar School between 1843 an ...

, Vicar of St Saviour's, Liverpool * 1887–1895: Benjamin Clarke, Vicar of Christ Church,

Southport Southport is a seaside resort, seaside town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton in Merseyside, England. It lies on the West Lancashire Coastal Plain, West Lancashire coastal plain and the east coast of the Irish Sea, approximately north of ...

* 1895–19 March 1906 (d.): William Taylor, Vicar of St Andrew,

Toxteth Toxteth is an inner-city area of Liverpool in the county of Merseyside. Toxteth is located to the south of Liverpool city centre, bordered by Aigburth, Canning, Liverpool, Canning, Dingle, Liverpool, Dingle, and Edge Hill, Merseyside, Edge Hill ...

Park * 1906–26 December 1915 (d.): Thomas Madden, Vicar of St Luke's, Liverpool (until 1913) then Vicar of Christ Church, Southport * 1916–7 February 1933 (d.): Hardwicke Spooner, Rector of

Walton-on-the-Hill Walton-on-the-Hill is a village in the Reigate and Banstead district, in the county of Surrey, England. It is midway between the market towns of Reigate and Epsom. The village is a dispersed cluster on the North Downs centred less than one m ...

(until 1921) * 1933–1934 (ret.): George Howson * 1934–3 September 1950 (d.): Cyril Twitchett * 1951–1970 (ret.): Hubert Wilkinson, Vicar of St Mary's, Grassendale, (until 1968; afterwards archdeacon emeritus) * 1971–1979 (res.): Eric Corbett * 1979–1991 (ret.): Graeme Spiers, Vicar of

Aigburth Aigburth () is a suburb of Liverpool, England. Located to the south of the city, it is bordered by Toxteth and Dingle to the north, Mossley Hill to the east, and Garston to the south, with the River Mersey forming its western boundary. Desc ...

(until 1980; afterwards archdeacon emeritus) * 1991–1993 (res.): Stanton Durant, Vicar of All Saints,

Stoneycroft Stoneycroft is a district in the east of Liverpool, England and part of the Tuebrook and Stoneycroft and Old Swan wards. Description Stoneycroft is a small residential district of Liverpool located to the east of the city. Liverpool's inner ...

* 1994–2002 (ret.): Robert Metcalf (afterwards archdeacon emeritus) * 20026 May 2017 (ret.): Ricky Panter :''Much of the territory of the archdeaconry was given to the new Knowsley and Sefton archdeaconry.'' * 10 September 2017January 2023 (res.): Mike McGurk *9 September 2023present: Miranda Threlfall-Holmes (Acting since 1 February 2023)

Archdeacons of Warrington and of St Helens and Warrington

:''The archdeaconry was erected from the Liverpool archdeaconry on 17 July 1880.'' *1880–1886 (res.): John Bardsley, Vicar of St Saviour's, Liverpool (became Archdeacon of Liverpool) *1887–1889 (res.): William Lefroy, perpetual curate of St Andrew's, Liverpool (became

Dean of Norwich The Dean of Norwich is the head of the Chapter (religion), Chapter of Norwich Cathedral in Norwich, England. The current Dean is Andrew Jonathan Braddock, who took up the position in late January 2023. List of deans Early modern *1538–1539 ...

) *1889–1895 (res.): William Taylor, Vicar of St Chrysostom, Everton (until 1890), then Vicar of St Andrew, Toxteth Park (became Archdeacon of Liverpool) *1895–1906 (res.): Thomas Madden, Vicar of St Luke's, Liverpool (became Archdeacon of Liverpool) *1906–1916 (res.): Hardwicke Spooner, Rector of Walton-on-the-Hill (became Archdeacon of Liverpool) *1916–1933 (res.): George Howson, Rector of

Woolton Woolton (; ) is a suburb of Liverpool, in Merseyside, England. It is an area located southeast of the city and bordered by Allerton, Gateacre, Halewood, and Hunt's Cross. At the 2011 Census, the population was 12,921. Overview Originally a ...

(until 1923; became Archdeacon of Liverpool) *1933–1934 (res.): Cyril Twitchett (became Archdeacon of Liverpool) *1934–1947 (ret.): Percy Baker, Vicar of

Mossley Hill Mossley Hill is a suburb of Liverpool and ward of Liverpool City Council. Located 3.5 miles southeast of the city centre, it is bordered by the suburbs of Aigburth, Allerton, Childwall, Garston, and Wavertree. At the 2001 Census, the popul ...

(until 1935), then Rector of Winwick (afterwards archdeacon emeritus) *1947–1958 (ret.): Arthur White, Vicar of Billinge (until 1950; afterwards archdeacon emeritus) *1959–1970 (ret.): Eric Evans, Rector of

North Meols North Meols () is a civil parish and Wards and electoral divisions of the United Kingdom, electoral ward in the West Lancashire district of Lancashire, England. The parish covers the village of Banks, Lancashire, Banks and the hamlet of Hundred ...

(until 1968; afterwards archdeacon emeritus) *1970–1981 (res.): John Lawton, Rector of Winwick (afterwards archdeacon emeritus) *1981–2001 (ret.): David Woodhouse, Vicar of St Peter's, Hindley (until 1992; afterwards archdeacon emeritus) *200131 October 2015 (ret.): Peter Bradley :''The archdeaconry was renamed on 5 November 2015.'' *14 November 201530 September 2019 (res.): Roger Preece *25 January 2020present:

Simon Fisher Simon E. Fisher (born 1970) is a British geneticist and neuroscientist who has pioneered research into the genetic basis of human speech and language. He is a director of the Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics and Professor of language ...

Archdeacons of Knowsley and Sefton

:''The archdeaconry was erected on 5 November 2015.'' *14 November 2015–present: Pete SpiersDiocese of Liverpool — Bishop Paul collates new Archdeacons at Liverpool Cathedral
(Accessed 20 November 2015)

Archdeacons of Wigan and West Lancashire

:''The archdeaconry was erected on 5 November 2015.'' *14 November 201531 July 2021 (res.): Jennifer McKenzie :''The archdeaconry was dissolved on 1 November 2024.''

References

Sources

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Liverpool, Archdeacons in the Diocese of Anglican ecclesiastical offices Lists of Anglicans Lists of English people Lancashire-related lists Merseyside-related lists Cheshire-related lists