The Diocese of York is an administrative division of 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, ...

, part of 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 ...

. It covers the city of

York York is a cathedral city in North Yorkshire, England, with Roman Britain, Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers River Ouse, Yorkshire, Ouse and River Foss, Foss. It has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a Yor ...

, the eastern part of

North Yorkshire North Yorkshire is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in Northern England.The Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority areas of City of York, York and North Yorkshire (district), North Yorkshire are in Yorkshire and t ...

, and most of the

East Riding of Yorkshire The East Riding of Yorkshire, often abbreviated to the East Riding or East Yorkshire, is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire to the north and west, S ...

. The diocese is headed by the

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 ...

and its

cathedral A cathedral is a church (building), church that contains the of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, Annual conferences within Methodism, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually s ...

is York Minster. The diocese is divided into three archdeaconries of

Cleveland Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–U.S. maritime border and approximately west of the Ohio-Pennsylvania st ...

in the north (with a Bishop of Whitby), the East Riding (with a Bishop of Hull), and in the south-west the Archdeaconry of York (with a bishop of Selby). The diocese was once much larger, covering

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ) is an area of Northern England which was History of Yorkshire, historically a county. Despite no longer being used for administration, Yorkshire retains a strong regional identity. The county was named after its county town, the ...

Nottinghamshire Nottinghamshire (; abbreviated ''Notts.'') is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. The county is bordered by South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west. Th ...

and

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It borders Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire, and South Yorkshire to the north, Nottinghamshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south-east, Staffordshire to the south a ...

and parts of

Northumberland Northumberland ( ) is a ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North East England, on the Anglo-Scottish border, border with Scotland. It is bordered by the North Sea to the east, Tyne and Wear and County Durham to the south, Cumb ...

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 ...

Cumberland Cumberland ( ) is an area of North West England which was historically a county. The county was bordered by Northumberland to the north-east, County Durham to the east, Westmorland to the south-east, Lancashire to the south, and the Scottish ...

and

Westmorland Westmorland (, formerly also spelt ''Westmoreland''R. Wilkinson The British Isles, Sheet The British IslesVision of Britain/ref>) is an area of North West England which was Historic counties of England, historically a county. People of the area ...

Bishops

The diocesan archbishop of York (currently Stephen Cottrell) is primarily supported by three

suffragan bishop A suffragan bishop is a type of bishop in some Christian denominations. In the Catholic Church, a suffragan bishop leads a diocese within an ecclesiastical province other than the principal diocese, the metropolitan archdiocese; the diocese led b ...

s: the bishop of Hull (founded 1891; currently Eleanor Sanderson), the bishop of Whitby (founded 1923; currently Barry Hill) and the bishop of Selby (founded 1939; currently Flora Winfield). While not operating a formal area scheme, each suffragan takes informal responsibility for one archdeaconry (East Riding, Cleveland and York respectively).

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) is 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 (currently Stephen Race); unlike in most dioceses, Beverley does not need to be licensed as an honorary assistant bishop since he is a suffragan in the diocese. David James, retired bishop of Bradford and Martin Wallace, retired bishop suffragan of Selby, live in Beverley and

Bridlington Bridlington (previously known as Burlington) is a seaside town and civil parish in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It is on the Holderness part (Flamborough Head to the Humber estuary) of the Yorkshire Coast by the North Sea. The town is ...

respectively, but there is no evidence that either has been licensed as an honorary assistant bishop.

History

In 1541, the archdeanery of

Richmond, North Yorkshire Richmond is a market town and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in North Yorkshire, England. It is located at the point where Swaledale, the upper valley of the River Swale, opens into the Vale of Mowbray. The town's population at the 2011 ...

, which included part of the

Yorkshire Dales The Yorkshire Dales are a series of valleys, or Dale (landform), dales, in the Pennines, an Highland, upland range in England. They are mostly located in the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of North Yorkshire, but extend into C ...

, North Lancashire (including

Furness Furness ( ) is a peninsula and region of Cumbria, England. Together with the Cartmel Peninsula it forms North Lonsdale, Historic counties of England, historically an exclave of Lancashire. On 1 April 2023 it became part of the new unitary author ...

), the southern part of

and the ward of Allerdale above Derwent in

, became part of the new Diocese of Chester. (These areas later became parts of other dioceses.) From the reign of Henry I to 1572 the

liberty Liberty is the state of being free within society from oppressive restrictions imposed by authority on one's way of life, behavior, or political views. The concept of liberty can vary depending on perspective and context. In the Constitutional ...

county palatine In England, Wales and Ireland a county palatine or palatinate was an area ruled by a hereditary nobleman enjoying special authority and autonomy from the rest of a kingdom. The name derives from the Latin adjective ''palātīnus'', "relating t ...

of Hexhamshire was part of the diocese and also the archbishop was the lord palatine of the county. In 1572 the county palatine was abolished and transferred to Northumberland and the Diocese of Durham. In 1836 the western part (corresponding broadly to the West Riding) was split into the Ripon diocese, which was later subdivided into the dioceses of Ripon and Leeds,

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 ...

, and Wakefield and now constitutes most of the Diocese of Leeds. In 1884 Nottinghamshire and

became part of the new Diocese of Southwell, from which Derbyshire was split off again in 1927 to form the

Diocese of Derby The Diocese of Derby is a Church of England diocese in the Province of Canterbury, roughly covering the same area as the County of Derbyshire. Its diocesan bishop is the Bishop of Derby whose seat (cathedra) is at Derby Cathedral. The dioces ...

. In 1914 the Diocese of Sheffield (covering

South Yorkshire South Yorkshire is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the north, the East Riding of Yorkshire to the north-east, Lincolnshire ...

) was split off as an independent diocese.

Archdeacon for Generous Giving and Stewardship

David Butterfield resigned as archdeacon of the East Riding on 26 May 2014 in order to be collated as "Archdeacon for Generous Giving and Stewardship" that 23 June, a position he held until he retired on 1 July 2017.

Archdeaconries and deaneries

From 1972 to 2017 the Deanery of Hull was, unusually, sub-divided into three Area Deaneries of Central and North Hull, East Hull, and West Hull.

References

Church of England Statistics 2002

External links

Diocesan website
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