Diocese of London Dioecesis Londiniensis | |
|---|---|
 Coat of arms | |
 Flag | |
| Location | |
| Ecclesiastical province | Canterbury |
| Archdeaconries | London;Middlesex;Hampstead;Hackney;Northolt;Charing Cross |
| Statistics | |
| Area | 460 km2 (180 sq mi) |
| Parishes | 403[1] |
| Churches | 475[1] |
| Information | |
| Established | 4th Century |
| Cathedral | St Paul's |
| Co-cathedral | Westminster Abbey (1550–1556 only) |
| Patron saint | Saint Paul |
| Language | English |
| Current leadership | |
| Bishop | Vacant |
| Suffragans | Jonathan Baker,Bishop of Fulham Emma Ineson, areaBishop of Kensington Lusa Nsenga-Ngoy, areaBishop of Willesden Anderson Jeremiah, areaBishop of Edmonton areaBishop of Stepney (vacant) Bishop of Islington (vacant) |
| Archdeacons | Luke Miller,Archdeacon of London; John Hawkins,Archdeacon of Hampstead Richard Frank,Archdeacon of Middlesex Catherine Pickford,Archdeacon of Northolt Peter Farley-Moore,Archdeacon of Hackney Katherine Hedderly,Archdeacon of Charing Cross |
| Website | |
| london.anglican.org | |
TheDiocese of London forms part of theChurch of England'sProvince of Canterbury inEngland.
It lies directly north of the Thames, covering 177 square miles (460 km2) and all or part of 17London boroughs. This corresponds almost exactly to thehistoric county ofMiddlesex. It includes theCity of London in which lies its cathedral,St Paul's, and also encompassesSpelthorne which is currently administered bySurrey. It encompasses most of that part ofGreater London which lies north of theRiver Thames and west of theRiver Lea.
The diocese covered all of Essex until 1846 when Essex became part of theDiocese of Rochester, after whichSt Albans and since 1914 forms theDiocese of Chelmsford. It also formerly took in southern and eastern parts of Hertfordshire.
TheReport of the Commissioners appointed by his Majesty to inquire into the Ecclesiastical Revenues of England and Wales (1835), noted the annual net income for the London see was £13,929.[2] This made it the third wealthiest diocese in England afterCanterbury andDurham.
Following the huge growth of the metropolis and its population in the 19th century, successive Bishops of London successfully campaigned for the appointment of several suffragan bishops to assist them in the care of the northern half of what became the County of London and later Greater London. A system of assigning "districts" to these suffragans evolved into an experimentalarea scheme in 1970.[3] An archbishop's commission on the diocesan arrangements in Greater London was established in 1975 and chaired byEdmund Compton;[4] its report considered but did not recommend forming all Greater London into anecclesiastical province.[5]
Since the formal institution of the Londonarea scheme (the first of its kind) in 1979,[6] the diocese has been divided into five episcopal areas, each of which is the particular responsibility of one of the diocese'ssuffragan bishops, except for the Two Cities area which is under the direct oversight of the diocesan bishop. It is further divided intoarchdeaconries and deaneries, as shown below.
| Episcopal area | Archdeaconry | Deaneries |
|---|---|---|
| Two Cities Episcopal Area | Archdeaconry of London | Deanery of theCity of London |
| Archdeaconry of Charing Cross | Deanery ofWestminsterPaddington | |
| Deanery of WestminsterSt Margaret | ||
| Deanery of WestminsterSt Marylebone | ||
| Edmonton Episcopal Area (areaBishop of Edmonton) | Archdeaconry of Hampstead | Deanery of CentralBarnet |
| Deanery of West Barnet | ||
| Deanery of NorthCamden (Hampstead) | ||
| Deanery of South Camden (St Pancras andHolborn) | ||
| Deanery ofEnfield | ||
| Deanery of EastHaringey | ||
| Deanery of West Haringey | ||
| Kensington Episcopal Area (areaBishop of Kensington) | Archdeaconry of Middlesex | Deanery ofHammersmith and Fulham |
| Deanery ofHampton | ||
| Deanery ofHounslow | ||
| Deanery ofKensington | ||
| Deanery ofChelsea | ||
| Deanery ofSpelthorne | ||
| Stepney Episcopal Area (areaBishop of Stepney) | Archdeaconry of Hackney | Deanery ofHackney |
| Deanery ofIslington | ||
| Deanery ofTower Hamlets | ||
| Willesden Episcopal Area (areaBishop of Willesden) | Archdeaconry of Northolt | Deanery ofBrent |
| Deanery ofEaling | ||
| Deanery ofHarrow | ||
| Deanery ofHillingdon |
Under the London area scheme the diocesan bishop, theBishop of London retains oversight of the two cities ofLondon andWestminster while the fourarea bishops have responsibility in their own episcopal areas. The suffragan see of Stepney was created in 1895, Kensington in 1901, Willesden in 1911 and Edmonton in 1970. The suffragan see of Marlborough existed from 1888 to 1918. On 1 May 2015, it was announced[7] thatRichard Chartres' (then-Bishop of London) proposal to take theSee of Islington out of abeyance for the appointment of a "bishop for church plants"[8] would go ahead.Ric Thorpe was consecrated bishop suffragan of Islington on 29 September 2015; he vacated the See on 30 November 2025, upon his translation asAnglican Archbishop of Melbourne.[9]
Alternative episcopal oversight (for parishes in the diocese which do not accept the ordination of women as priests) is provided by a fifth suffragan bishop,Jonathan Baker,Bishop of Fulham, who has the same ministry in theSouthwark andRochester dioceses. During a lengthy vacancy in that see, alternative episcopal oversight was offered by the then-area Bishop of Edmonton.
There are also several retired bishops living in the diocese, some of whom are licensed ashonorary assistant bishops:
The London Diocesan Board for Schools (LDBS) has responsibility for 155Church of England schools within the London diocese, across 18 local authorities.[17]
In December 2022, Martin Sargeant, formerly Head of Operations in the Two Cities, was sentenced atSouthwark Crown Court to five years in prison for defrauding the London Diocese of £5.2m. He had built up close contacts within the Church of England. Around January 2002, he was renting a flat atSt George in the East Church, London, when Gillean Craig was Rector.[18][19]
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
51°30′50″N0°05′55″W / 51.5138°N 0.0986°W /51.5138; -0.0986
