Bishop of Oxford

The Bishop of Oxford is the diocesan bishop of the Church of England Diocese of Oxford in the Province of Canterbury; his seat is at Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford. The see has been vacant since the retirement of John Pritchard on 31 October 2014; the acting bishop is Colin Fletcher, Bishop of Dorchester.

History

The origins of Christianity in this part of England go back at least to the 7th century, when Saint Birinus brought his mission to the West Saxons in 634. The West Saxon King Cynegils was baptised in the River Thames near the present site of Dorchester Abbey, where the original See was established.

The see was transferred in 1092 to Winchester, before being absorbed into the Diocese of Lincoln, the vast extent of which covered much of central and eastern England from the River Thames to the Humber.

King Henry VIII, acting now as head of the Church in England, established by Act of Parliament in 1542 six new dioceses, mostly out of the spoils of the suppressed monasteries. These six were Bristol, Chester, Gloucester, Oxford, Peterborough and Westminster. This intervention by Henry VIII saw a new see located at Osney in Oxfordshire in 1542 before finally being moved to its present location in the City of Oxford in 1546.

While the city gained prosperity from the accession of thousands of students, it was never, apart from the university, again prominent in history until the seventeenth century, when it became the headquarters of the Royalist party, and again the meeting-place of Parliament. The city of Oxford showed its Hanoverian sympathies long before the university, and feeling between them ran high in consequence. The area and population of the city remained almost stationary until about 1830, but since then it has grown rapidly.

Modern bishopric

The modern diocese covers the counties of Oxfordshire, Berkshire, and Buckinghamshire, with parishes also in Bedfordshire, Gloucestershire, Hampshire, Hertfordshire, and Warwickshire. The see is in the City of Oxford where the seat is located at the Cathedral Church of Christ which was elevated to cathedral status in 1546, and which (uniquely among English dioceses) is also the chapel of Christ Church, Oxford. The Oxford diocese at the present day contains the greatest number of parishes of any diocese on England (621) and also the most church buildings (815), of which 475 are grade 1 or 2* listed buildings.

The Bishop's residence is Diocesan Church House, Oxford. He signs + Christian name Oxon:.

List of bishops

List of the Bishops of Oxford, and its precursor offices.

(Dates in italics indicate de facto continuation of office)

Tenure	Incumbent	Notes
See at Osney
1542 to 1546	Robert King, Bishop of Oxford	Suffragan Bishop of Lincoln
See at Oxford
1546 to 1558	Robert King, Bishop of Oxford	Suffragan Bishop of Lincoln
1558 to 1559	Thomas Goldwell	Previously Bishop of St Asaph; deprived, fled to Milan, Naples and Rome
1559 to 1567	vacant
1567 to October 1568	Hugh Curwen (Hugh Coren)	Archbishop of Dublin
October 1568 to 1589	vacant
1589 to 1592	John Underhill	Rector of Lincoln College, Oxford
1592 to 1604	vacant
1604 to 1618	John Bridges	Dean of Salisbury
1619 to 1628	John Howson	Student of Christ Church, Oxford; appointed Bishop of Durham
1628 to 1632	Richard Corbet	Dean of Christ Church, Oxford; appointed Bishop of Norwich
1632 to 1641	John Bancroft	Master of University College, Oxford
1641 to 1663	Robert Skinner	Bishop of Bristol; deprived during the Commonwealth
1660 to 1663	Robert Skinner	Restored; appointed Bishop of Worcester
1663 to 1665	William Paul	Dean of Lichfield
1665 to 1671	Walter Blandford	Warden of Wadham College, Oxford; appointed Bishop of Worcester
1671 to 1674	Nathaniel Crew	Rector of Lincoln College, Oxford, and Dean of Chichester; appointed Bishop of Durham
1674 to 1676	Henry Compton	Canon of Christ Church, Oxford; appointed Bishop of London
1676 to 1686	John Fell	Dean of Christ Church, Oxford
1686 to 20 March 1687	Samuel Parker	Archdeacon of Canterbury; died in office
1688 to 1690	Timothy Hall	Denied installation by the Chapter of Christ Church
1690 to 1699	John Hough	President of Magdalen College, Oxford; appointed Bishop of Lichfield
1699 to 1715	William Talbot	Dean of Worcester; appointed Bishop of Salisbury
1715 to 1737	John Potter	Regius Professor of Divinity, Oxford; appointed Archbisop of Canterbury
1737 to 1758	Thomas Secker	Bishop of Bristol; appointed Archbishop of Canterbury
1758 to 1766	John Hume	Bishop of Bristol; appointed Bishop of Salisbury
1766 to 1777	Robert Lowth	Bishop of St David's; appointed Bishop of London
1777 to 1788	John Butler	Prebendary of Winchester; appointed Bishop of Hereford
1788 to 1799	Edward Smallwell	Bishop of St David's
1799 to 1807	John Randolph	Regius Professor of Divinity, Oxford; appointed Bishop of Bangor
1807 to 1811	Charles Moss
1812 to 1815	William Jackson	Regius Professor of Greek, Oxford
1816 to 1827	The Hon Edward Legge	Dean of Windsor
1827 to 1829	Charles Lloyd	Regius Professor of Divinity, Oxford
1829 to 1845	Richard Bagot	Dean of Canterbury; appointed Bishop of Bath and Wells
1845 to 1869	Samuel Wilberforce	Dean of Westminster; translated to Winchester
1870 to 1889	John Mackarness	Prebendary of Exeter
1889 to 1901	William Stubbs	Bishop of Chester
1901 to 1911	Francis Paget	Dean of Christ Church, Oxford
1911 to 1919	Charles Gore	Bishop of Birmingham; resigned
1919 to 1925	Hubert Burge	Bishop of Southwark
1925 to 1937	Thomas Strong	Bishop of Ripon; resigned
1937 to 1954	Kenneth Kirk	Regius Professor of Moral and Pastoral Theology, Oxford
1955 to 1970	Harry Carpenter	Warden of Keble College, Oxford; resigned
1971 to 1978	Kenneth Woollcombe	Principal of Edinburgh Theological College; resigned
1978 to 1986	Patrick Rodger	Bishop of Manchester; resigned
1987 to 2006	Richard Harries	Dean of King's College, London; ennobled on retirement
2007 to 31 October 2014	John Pritchard	Suffragan Bishop of Jarrow
31 October 2014 to present (acting)	Colin Fletcher, acting bishop	area Bishop of Dorchester

See also

• Cuddesdon Palace

References

• Oxford Diocesan Year Book
• Haydn's Book of Dignities (1894) Joseph Haydn/Horace Ockerby, reprinted (1969)
• Whitaker's Almanack 1883 to 2004, Joseph Whitaker and Sons Ltd/A&C Black, London
• The above text is partly drawn from the Catholic Encyclopaedia of 1908