The Diocese of Bradford is a former

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, ...

diocese In Ecclesiastical polity, 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 Roman province, prov ...

within the

Province of York The Province of York, or less formally the Northern Province, is one of two ecclesiastical provinces making up the Church of England and consists of 14 dioceses which cover the northern third of England and the Isle of Man. York was elevated to ...

. The diocese covered the area of the

City of Bradford Bradford (), also known as the City of Bradford, is a metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. It is named after its largest settlement, Bradford, but covers a larger area which includes the towns and villages of Keighley, Shipley, Wes ...

, Craven district, the former Sedbergh Rural District now in

Cumbria Cumbria ( ) is a ceremonial county in North West England. It borders the Scottish council areas of Dumfries and Galloway and Scottish Borders to the north, Northumberland and County Durham to the east, North Yorkshire to the south-east, Lancash ...

and the parts of the

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...

boroughs of Pendle and

Ribble Valley Ribble Valley is a local government district with borough status in Lancashire, England. Its council is based in Clitheroe, the largest town. The borough also includes the town of Longridge and numerous villages and surrounding rural areas. ...

that are within Yorkshire's historic boundaries. The seat of the

episcopal see An episcopal see is the area of a bishop's ecclesiastical jurisdiction. Phrases concerning actions occurring within or outside an episcopal see are indicative of the geographical significance of the term, making it synonymous with ''diocese'' ...

was Bradford Cathedral and the bishop was the diocesan Bishop of Bradford. The diocese was founded on 25 November 1919 from part of the Diocese of Ripon and dissolved in the creation of the Diocese of Leeds on 20 April 2014.The Transformation Programme – First new diocese for more than 85 years created on April 20
(Accessed 19 April 2014) The church of Saint Peter was elevated to cathedral status in 1919.

Bishops

The diocesan Bishop of Bradford had no suffragan bishops. Immediately prior to its dissolution,

alternative episcopal oversight A provincial episcopal visitor (PEV), popularly known as a flying bishop, is a Church of England bishop assigned to minister to many of the clergy, laity and parishes who on grounds of theological conviction "are unable to receive the ministry of w ...

(for parishes in the diocese who reject the ministry of priests who are women) was provided by the

provincial episcopal visitor A provincial episcopal visitor (PEV), popularly known as a flying bishop, is a Church of England bishop assigned to minister to many of the clergy, laity and parishes who on grounds of theological conviction "are unable to receive the ministry of w ...

(PEV) the Bishop suffragan of Beverley (then Glyn Webster.) He was licensed as an

honorary assistant bishop An assistant bishop in the Anglican Communion is a bishop appointed to assist a diocesan bishop. Church of England In the established Church of England, assistant bishops are usually retired (diocesan or suffragan) bishops – in which case they ...

of the diocese in order to facilitate his work there. Besides Webster, there were two retired honorary assistant bishops licensed in the diocese: *2004–present: Colin Buchanan, retired former Area Bishop of Woolwich, lived in

Alwoodley Alwoodley is a suburb and civil parishes in England, civil parish of Leeds in West Yorkshire, England. It is north of Leeds city centre, central Leeds and is one of the most affluent areas of the county. Alwoodley lies in the LS17 postcode are ...

Leeds Leeds is a city in West Yorkshire, England. It is the largest settlement in Yorkshire and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds Metropolitan Borough, which is the second most populous district in the United Kingdom. It is built aro ...

(then in neighbouring Ripon and Leeds diocese) *2005–present: Retired former

archbishop of York The archbishop of York is a senior bishop in the Church of England, second only to the archbishop of Canterbury. The archbishop is the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of York and the metropolitan bishop of the province of York, which covers the ...

the Rt Revd The Lord Hope of Thornes lived in Hellifield, N. Yorks.

Merger

On 2 March 2013, the diocesan synod voted in favour of proposals to abolish the diocese in order to create a larger Leeds diocese; the proposal was approved on 8 July 2013 by the General Synod.The Church of England – Synod approves new Diocese of Leeds for West Yorkshire and The Dales
/ref> The merger came into force on 20 April 2014, at which point the Bradford, Ripon and Leeds and

Wakefield Wakefield is a cathedral city in West Yorkshire, England located on the River Calder. The city had a population of 109,766 in the 2021 census, up from 99,251 in the 2011 census. The city is the administrative centre of the wider Metropolit ...

dioceses merged.

References

Bibliography

Church of England Statistics 2002

The Dioceses Commission's Yorkshire Review — A Guide to the Report

External links

Diocese of BradfordBradford and Ripon & Leeds Education Team
Bradford, Diocese of Christian organizations established in 1920

Bradford Bradford is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in West Yorkshire, England. It became a municipal borough in 1847, received a city charter in 1897 and, since the Local Government Act 1972, 1974 reform, the city status in the United Kingdo ...

2014 disestablishments in England Bradford {{England-stub