54°08′06″N1°31′12″W / 54.135°N 1.520°W /54.135; -1.520
Diocese of Ripon | |
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 Coat of arms | |
| Location | |
| Ecclesiastical province | York |
| Archdeaconries | Richmond, Leeds |
| Statistics | |
| Parishes | 161 |
| Churches | 269 |
| Information | |
| Established | Modern diocese: 5 October 1836 (1836-10-05)–20 April 2014 (2014-04-20) |
| Cathedral | Ripon Cathedral |
| Current leadership | |
| Bishop | Vacant at dissolution. Last bishop:John Packer,Bishop of Ripon and Leeds |
| Suffragan | At dissolution:James Bell,Bishop of Knaresborough, acting Bishop of Ripon and Leeds |
| Archdeacons | At dissolution: Paul Hooper,Archdeacon of Leeds Archdeacon of Richmond(Vacant; Acting archdeacon:Paul Slater,Archdeacon of Craven) |
| Website | |
| riponleeds.anglican.org | |
TheDiocese of Ripon, renamed theDiocese of Ripon and Leeds from 1999 until its amalgamation into the newDiocese of Leeds in 2014, was a formerChurch of Englanddiocese within theProvince of York. Immediately prior to its dissolution, it covered an area in western and northernYorkshire as well as the south Teesdale area administered byCounty Durham which is traditionally part of Yorkshire. The cities ofRipon andLeeds were within its boundaries as were the towns ofHarrogate,Richmond,Knaresborough,Hawes andBedale and the surrounding countryside; its northern boundary was theRiver Tees.
The diocesanBishop of Ripon hadhis cathedral church atRipon. The diocese was also served by a suffragan Bishop of Knaresborough[1] and was divided into two archdeaconries, those ofRichmond and Leeds. For organizational purposes, the diocese was further divided into eightdeaneries:Richmond,Wensley,Ripon,Harrogate,Allerton,Headingley,Armley andWhitkirk. The first four deaneries are located in the Archdeaconry of Richmond, and the latter four are in the Archdeaconry of Leeds.[2] The formerDiocese covered an area of 1,359 square miles, with a range of urban and ruralparishes, these range from urban areas likeHolbeck andArmley with New Wortley, urban centres likeRipon andRichmond and rural parishes likeDanby Wiske with Hutton Bonneville in theVale of Mowbray,Eryholme on the southern bank of theRiver Tees andUpper Nidderdale high in theYorkshire Dales.
The diocese of Ripon was originally created out of the dioceses ofYork andChester in 1836 withCharles Thomas Longley consecrated as its first bishop. It was the first diocese to be created in England after theReformation, and was erected on 5 October 1836 under theEstablished Church Act 1836.[3]
In a process which began with commission recommendations in 1989 and in 1997,[4] including Diocesan Synod on 20 June 1998,[5] General Synod approval in November 1998 androyal assent in May 1999, the diocese was renamed 'The Diocese of Ripon and Leeds' in order to reflect the demographic importance of Leeds within its boundaries; the name change to come into effect on 3 September 1999, the day afterDavid Young's retirement as bishop.[6] The diocesan bishop's residence and offices and the diocesan offices were based in Leeds, while the cathedral remainedRipon Cathedral; after 1999, the diocese was known asRipon and Leeds diocese, or, less often,Ripon diocese. The central importance of Leeds to the area was further recognised in the eventual creation of the newDiocese of Leeds.
On 2 March 2013, the diocesan synod voted in favour of proposals to abolish the diocese in order to create a largerLeeds diocese;[7] the proposal was approved on 8 July 2013 by the General Synod.[8] The merger came into force on 20 April 2014, at which point theBradford, Ripon and Leeds andWakefield dioceses merged.[9]
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