
TheDean of Westminster is the head of the chapter atWestminster Abbey. Due to the abbey's status as aroyal peculiar, thedean answers directly to theBritish monarch (not to theBishop of London asordinary, nor to theArchbishop of Canterbury asmetropolitan). Initially, the office was a successor to that ofAbbot of Westminster, and was for the first 10 years cathedral dean for theDiocese of Westminster. The current dean isDavid Hoyle.


| Name | Portrait | Term of office | |
|---|---|---|---|
| William Benson (formerly last abbot of the Benedictine abbey) | 1540 | 1549[†] | |
| Richard Cox | 1549 | 1553 | |
| Hugh Weston | 1553 | 1556 | |
| Vacancy (restored as Benedictine abbey) John Feckenham, abbot | 1556 | 1559 | |
| William Bill | 1560 | 1561[†] | |
| Gabriel Goodman | 1561 | 1601[†] | |
| Lancelot Andrewes | 1601 | 1605 | |
| Richard Neile (in commendam as Bishop of Rochester from 1608) | 1605 | 1610 | |
| George Montaigne | 1610 | 1617 | |
| Robert Tounson | 1617 | 1620 | |
| John Williams (in commendam as Bishop of Lincoln 1621–41, as Archbishop of York from 1641) | 1620 | 1644 | |
| Richard Steward (not installed) | 1644 | 1651[†] | |
| Vacancy (English Interregnum) | 1651 | 1660 | |
| John Earle | 1660 | 1662 | |
| John Dolben (in commendam as Bishop of Rochester from 1666[R 1]) | 1662 | 1683 | |
| Thomas Sprat (in commendam as Bishop of Rochester from 1684[R 1]) | 1683 | 1713[†] | |
| Francis Atterbury (in commendam as Bishop of Rochester[R 1]) | 1713 | 1723 | |
| Samuel Bradford (in commendam as Bishop of Rochester[R 1]) | 1723 | 1731[†] | |
| Joseph Wilcocks (in commendam as Bishop of Rochester[R 1]) | 1731 | 1756[†] | |
| Zachary Pearce (in commendam as Bishop of Rochester[R 1]) | 1756 | 1768 | |
| John Thomas (in commendam as Bishop of Rochester from 1774[R 1]) | 1768 | 1793[†] | |
| Samuel Horsley (in commendam as Bishop of Rochester[R 1]) | 1793 | 1802 | |
| William Vincent | 1802 | 1815[†] | |
| John Ireland | 1816 | 1842[†] | |
| Thomas Turton | 1842 | 1845 | |
| Samuel Wilberforce | March–October 1845 | ||
| William Buckland | 1845 | 1856[†] | |
| Richard Chenevix Trench | 1856 | 1864 | |
| Arthur Penrhyn Stanley | 1864 | 1881[†] | |
| George Granville Bradley | 1881 | 1902 | |
| Armitage Robinson | 1902[1] | 1911 | |
| Herbert Edward Ryle | 1911 | 1925[†] | |
| William Foxley Norris | 1925 | 1937[†] | |
| Paul de Labilliere | 1938 | 1946[†] | |
| Alan Don | 1946 | 1959 | |
| Eric Abbott | 1959 | 1974 | |
| Edward Carpenter | 1974 | 1985 | |
| Michael Mayne | 1986 | 1996 | |
| Wesley Carr | 1997 | 2006 | |
| John Hall | 2006[2] | 2019 | |
| David Hoyle | 2019 | Present | |
Horn, Joyce M. (ed.). "Deans of Westminster".Fasti Ecclesiae Anglicanae 1541-1857. Vol. 7. pp. 69–71. Retrieved12 September 2019.