Katana VentraIP

Bishop of London

The Old Deanery, Dean's Court, City of London

Thean

4th century, but current establishment from 604

The diocese covers 458 km2 (177 sq mi) of 17 boroughs of Greater London north of the River Thames (historically the City of London and the County of Middlesex) and a small part of the County of Surrey (the district of Spelthorne, historically part of Middlesex). The see is in the City of London, where the seat is St Paul's Cathedral, which was founded as a cathedral in 604 and was rebuilt from 1675 following the Great Fire of London (1666).


Third in seniority in the Church of England after the archbishops of Canterbury and York, the bishop is one of five senior bishops who sit as of right as one of the 26 Lords Spiritual in the House of Lords (for the remaining diocesan bishops of lesser rank, seats are attained upon vacancy, determined by chronological seniority).[2] The other four senior bishops are the archbishop of Canterbury, the archbishop of York, the bishop of Durham and the bishop of Winchester.


The bishop's residence is The Old Deanery, Dean's Court, City of London. Previously, Fulham Palace was the residence for over 1000 years, and from the 18th century, the bishop had chambers at London House next to the Bishop's Chapel in Aldersgate Street.[3]


The current (133rd) bishop of London is Sarah Mullally. She was confirmed on 8 March 2018 after acting in post immediately after her canonical election on 25 January 2018.[4][5] The diocesan bishop of London has had direct episcopal oversight in the Two Cities area (the City of London and the City of Westminster) since the institution of the London area scheme in 1979.[6]

List of bishops[edit]

Romano-British[edit]

The dates and names of these early bishops are very uncertain.

1554–c. 1558: , deposed Bishop of Chester was appointed suffragan bishop to the Bishop of London[64]

John Bird

Several coadjutor bishops "in Northern and Central Europe", predecessors of the European

Bishops of Fulham

1897–1910 (d.): , a Canon of Windsor, Rector of St James's Church, Piccadilly and frequently deputised for the Bishop of Marlborough (until 1900), assistant bishop for West London (effectively acting Bishop of Marlborough; 1900–1903), and former Anglican Bishop of Sydney[65][66]

Alfred Barry

1916–1933 (d.): , Bishop in Northern and Central Europe (1911–1926) and incumbent of City churches (1911–d.); former Bishop of British Honduras[67]

Herbert Bury

1962–1966: , former Anglican Bishop of Johannesburg[68]

Ambrose Reeves

1961–1966: , Warden of United Westminster Almshouses and former Bishop of Antigua[69]

Nathaniel Newnham Davis

1978 – 1981 (res.): , assistant for Westminster[70] and former Bishop of Oxford[71]

Kenneth Woollcombe

1976 – 1979 (ret.): , Minister of St John's Downshire Hill, Hampstead and former Bishop in Chile, Bolivia and Peru[72]

Kenneth Howell

1976 – 1987 (ret.): , Canon and Archdeacon of Westminster, Sub-Dean of Westminster (from 1982) and former Bishop of Pretoria[73]

Edward Knapp-Fisher

Among those who called Assistant Bishop of London, or coadjutor bishop, were:


Honorary assistant bishops – retired bishops taking on occasional duties voluntarily – have included:

Diocese of London website

Bishop of London refuses to ban gay Bishop from church service

The papers of the Bishops of London covering 1423–1945 are held at Lambeth Palace Library