Diocese of Leicester
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| Diocese of Leicester | |
| Province | Canterbury |
|---|---|
| Bishop | Bishop of Leicester |
| Cathedral | Leicester Cathedral, 680 to c.870 and 1927 to present |
| Other seats | seat moved to Oxfordshire c.870 as Bishop of Dorchester |
| Parent Diocese(s) | Merged with Diocese of Lincoln then Diocese of Peterborough c.870-1927 |
| Archdeaconries | Leicester, Loughborough |
| Parishes | 234 |
| Churches | 327 |
| Website | http://www.leicester.anglican.org/ |
The Diocese of Leicester is a Church of England diocese based in Leicester and covering most of the County of Leicestershire. The cathedral is Leicester Cathedral, where the Bishop of Leicester sits.
The diocese is divided into two Archdeaconries - of Leicester, covering the east of the county and Loughborough, covering the west. The former is divided into the deanaries of Christianity North and South (covering the city), Framland, Gartree First and Second, and Goscote. The latter is divided into Akeley East, South and West, Guthlaxton and Sparkenhoe West and East.
[edit] History
The area first held a bishopric in 680, and the Saxon cathedral was probably located close to (if not on the site of) the present cathedral. The original diocese fell victim to the invasion by the Danes around 870 and after the establishment of the Danelaw in 886 the diocese's seat was moved to Oxfordshire and, taking over the existing Diocese of Lindine (created in 678), became the Diocese of Dorchester. This diocese's seat was later moved to Lincoln in 1072 under King William I - the diocese then becoming the Diocese of Lincoln, and subsequently being split off from the Diocese of Lincoln at the time of the English Reformation as part of the new Diocese of Peterborough. In 1539 a new cathedral was being erected, but it was never completed and Peterborough was chosen as the seat of the new diocese.
In the 19th century there were suffragan bishops of Leicester whilst the bishopric was still within the its parent diocese of Peterborough. The modern diocese was founded in 1926 from the archdeaconries of Leicester and Loughborough and part of the archdeaconry of Northampton all from the Diocese of Peterborough.[1]
[edit] References
- ^ London Gazette: no. 33220, page 7322, 12 November 1926. Retrieved on 2008-04-27.
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