Bishops of Rochester

Bishop of Rochester
Bishopric
anglican
Arms of the Bishop of Rochester: Argent, on a saltire gules an escallop or
Incumbent: James Langstaff
Province	Canterbury
Diocese	Rochester
Cathedral	Christ and the Blessed Virgin Mary, Rochester
Residence	Bishopscourt, Rochester
First incumbent	Justus
Formation	604

The Bishop of Rochester is the ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Rochester in the Province of Canterbury.

The town of Rochester has the bishop's seat, at the Cathedral Church of Christ and the Blessed Virgin Mary, which was founded as a cathedral in 604. During the late 17th and 18th centuries it was customary for the Bishop of Rochester to also be appointed Dean of Westminster: the practice ended in 1802. The diocese covers two London boroughs and West Kent which includes Medway and Maidstone.

The bishop's residence is Bishopscourt, Rochester. His Latin episcopal signature is: "(firstname) Roffen",Roffensis being the genitive case of the Latin name of the see. The office was created in AD 604 at the founding of the diocese in the Kingdom of Kent under King Æthelberht.

The Diocese of Rochester was historically the oldest and smallest of all the suffragan sees of Canterbury. Founded by St Augustine, who in 604 consecrated St Justus as its first bishop. (After two more Roman bishops, all subsequent bishops until 1066, beginning with Ithamar, were drawn from the Christianised inhabitants of Kent.) The diocesan territory consisted roughly of the western part of Kent, separated from the rest of the county by the River Medway, though the diocesan boundaries did not follow the river very closely. The restricted territory of the diocese meant that it needed only one archdeacon to supervise all 97 parishes.

From the foundation of the see the Archbishop of Canterbury had enjoyed the privilege of nominating the bishop, but Archbishop Theobald transferred the right to the Benedictine monks of the cathedral, who exercised it for the first time in 1148.