List of bishops of Chester

Bishop of Chester
Bishopric
anglican
Incumbent: Peter Forster
Province	York
Diocese	Chester
Cathedral	Chester Cathedral
Residence	Bishop's House, Chester
First incumbent	John Bird
Formation	1541

The Bishop of Chester is the Ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Chester in the Province of York.

The diocese expands across most of the historic county boundaries of Cheshire, including the Wirral Peninsula and has its see in the City of Chester where the seat is located at the Cathedral Church of Christ and the Blessed Virgin Mary, which was formerly the Benedictine Abbey of Saint Werburgh, being elevated to cathedral status in 1541. The Bishop's residence is Bishop's House, Chester.

Cheshire has held a bishopric since 1072 when the seat was at the collegiate church of Saint John the Baptist until 1102. The present diocese was formed in 1541 under King Henry VIII. The current incumbent is Peter Forster, the 40th Bishop of Chester, whose election was confirmed in late 1996, and who signs Peter Cestr. At present the Bishop is permitted to sit in the House of Lords as one of the Lords Spiritual.

Chester at various periods in its history had a bishop and a cathedral, though till the early sixteenth century only intermittently. Even before the Norman conquest the title Bishop of Chester is found in documents applied to prelates who would be more correctly described as Bishop of Mercia or even Bishop of Lichfield. After the Council of London in 1075 had decreed the transfer of all episcopal sees to cities, Peter, Bishop of Lichfield, removed his seat from Lichfield to Chester, and became known as Bishop of Chester. There he chose as his cathedral collegiate church of Saint John the Baptist, an arrangement which continued until 1102.

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