Diocese of Wells
| Diocese of Bath and Wells | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Location | |
| Ecclesiastical province | Canterbury |
| Archdeaconries | Bath, Wells, Taunton |
| Statistics | |
| Parishes | 477 |
| Churches | 569 |
| Information | |
| Cathedral | Cathedral Church of Saint Andrew |
| Current leadership | |
| Bishop | Peter Hancock, Bishop of Bath and Wells |
| Suffragan | Ruth Worsley, Bishop of Taunton |
| Archdeacons | Andy Piggott, Archdeacon of Bath Simon Hill, Archdeacon of Taunton Anne Gell, Archdeacon of Wells |
| Website | |
| bathandwells.org.uk | |
The Diocese of Bath and Wells is a diocese in the Church of England Province of Canterbury in England.
The diocese covers the county of Somerset and a small area of Dorset. The Episcopal seat of the Bishop of Bath and Wells is located in the Cathedral Church of Saint Andrew in the city of Wells in Somerset.
Before 909, Somerset lay within the diocese of Sherborne. At this date, Athelm (later Archbishop of Canterbury) was appointed the first bishop of the Diocese of Wells, making the secular church there into the diocesan cathedral. The secular canons at Wells vied with the monks of the monasteries at Glastonbury and Bath for supremacy in the diocese and it was with difficulty that the cathedral retained its status, so much so that the canons were reduced to begging in order to obtain their bread. It was to this impoverished cathedral church that Gisa was appointed bishop in 1060. Under him, grants of land were obtained successively from the kings Edward the Confessor, Harold and William the Conqueror and buildings were constructed for the secular community.
Gisa's successor, John de Villula (1088–1122), moved the see to become the Diocese of Bath in 1090, using the Abbey Church of Ss Peter & Paul as his cathedral and in so doing he regressed the position of the cathedral at Wells. Robert of Lewes, appointed bishop in 1136, enhanced on the position of Wells. As well as rebuilding the cathedral he instituted the arrangement by which although Bath retained precedence, the seat was located in both churches and the bishop was elected by both chapters. However the diocesan title remained the same.
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