Bishop of Coventry

"The Bishop's House", Coventry.

The Bishop of Coventry is the Ordinary of the England Diocese of Coventry in the Province of Canterbury. In the Middle Ages, the Bishop of Coventry was a title used by the bishops known today as the Bishop of Lichfield.

The present diocese covers most of the County of Warwickshire. The see is in the City of Coventry where the seat is located at the Cathedral Church of Saint Michael. The Bishop's residence is The Bishop's House, Coventry.

History

Main article: Bishop of Lichfield

From 1102 to 1238, the former Benedictine Priory and Cathedral of St Mary in the city was the seat of the early Bishops of Coventry (previously known as Bishops of Chester or of Lichfield). It was, afterwards, one of the two seats of the Bishop of Coventry and Lichfield until the Reformation of the 1530s when Coventry Cathedral was demolished and the bishop's seat moved to Lichfield, though the title remained as Bishop of Lichfield and Coventry until 1837, when Coventry was united with the Diocese of Worcester.[1]

Suffragan Bishops

In the late nineteenth century there were two Suffragan Bishops of Coventry appointed to assist the Bishop of Worcester, the Rt Revd John Perowne, in overseeing the Diocese of Worcester.[2]

Suffragan bishops of Coventry
From Until Incumbent Notes
1891 1894 Henry Bowlby
1894 1903 Edmund Knox Translated to Manchester.
1903 1918 No suffragan bishops appointed.
In 1918, the suffragan see ended with the creation of the diocesan see.
Source(s): [2]

Bishops of the modern Diocese

The diocese was revived in 1918 under King George V when the parish church of Saint Michael was elevated to cathedral status. The cathedral suffered under fire-bombing by the Luftwaffe on the night of 14 November 1940 and remains today as a dignified ruin adjacent to the new cathedral building consecrated on 25 May 1962. The 8th Lord Bishop of Coventry was the Right Reverend Colin Bennetts, who retired on 31 January 2008.[3]

The Right Reverend Dr Christopher Cocksworth was ordained and consecrated as the 9th Lord Bishop of Coventry on 3 July 2008 at Southwark Cathedral.[4] He was enthroned and received into the diocese during a service at Coventry Cathedral on 1 November 2008.[5][6] Dr Cocksworth was previously Principal of Ridley Hall, part of the Cambridge Federation of Theological Colleges.

Bishops of Coventry
From Until Incumbent Notes
1918 1922 Huyshe Yeatman-Biggs Translated from Worcester.
1922 1931 Charles Carre Translated to Hereford.
1931 1943 Mervyn Haigh Translated to Winchester.
1943 1952 Neville Gorton
1952 1976 Cuthbert Bardsley Translated from Croydon.
1976 1985 John Gibbs Translated from Bradwell.
1985 1997 Simon Barrington-Ward
1998 2008 Colin Bennetts Translated from Buckingham.
2008 present Christopher Cocksworth
Source(s): [7][8]

References

  1. ↑ Fryde et al. 1986, Handbook of British Chronology, pp. 253–255.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Crockford's Clerical Directory, p. 946.
  3. ↑ "New Bishop of Coventry". Coventry Diocese. 3 March 2008. Retrieved 2008-03-14.
  4. ↑ "Start the Week—Consecration of the new Bishop of Coventry". Coventry Cathedral newsletter. Coventry Diocese. 27 May 2008. Retrieved 2008-07-06.
  5. ↑ "The New Bishop Of Coventry". Diocese of Coventry. Retrieved 2008-11-18.
  6. ↑ "Welcome to the new Bishop of Coventry". Coventry Telegraph. 2008-11-03. Retrieved 2008-11-18.
  7. ↑ Fryde et al. 1986, Handbook of British Chronology, p. 241.
  8. ↑ "Historical successions: Coventry". Crockford's Clerical Directory. Retrieved 6 January 2012.

Bibliography

  • Crockford's Clerical Directory (100th ed.). London: Church House Publishing. 2007. ISBN 978-0-7151-1030-0.
  • Fryde, E. B.; Greenway, D. E.; Porter, S.; Roy, I., eds. (1986). Handbook of British Chronology (3rd, reprinted 2003 ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-56350-X.

External links