Diocese of Exeter | |
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Location | |
Ecclesiastical province | Canterbury |
Archdeaconries | Barnstaple, Exeter, Plymouth, Totnes |
Statistics | |
Parishes | 506 |
Churches | 625 |
Information | |
Cathedral | Exeter Cathedral |
Current leadership | |
Bishop | Robert Atwell, Bishop of Exeter |
Suffragans |
Nick McKinnel, Bishop of Plymouth Sarah Mullally, Bishop of Crediton |
Archdeacons |
Ian Chandler, Archdeacon of Plymouth Christopher Futcher, Archdeacon of Exeter Mark Butchers, Archdeacon of Barnstaple Douglas Dettmer, Archdeacon of Totnes |
Website | |
exeter.anglican.org |
The Diocese of Exeter is a Church of England diocese covering the county of Devon. It is one of the largest dioceses in England. The Cathedral Church of St Peter in Exeter is the seat of the diocesan Bishop of Exeter. It is part of the Province of Canterbury. The diocesan bishop (Robert Atwell since 30 April 2014) is assisted by two suffragan bishops, the Bishop of Crediton and the Bishop of Plymouth. The See of Crediton was created in 1897 and the See of Plymouth in 1923.
The Diocese of Crediton was created out of the Diocese of Sherborne in AD 909 to cover the area of Devon and Cornwall.Crediton was chosen as the site for its cathedral, possibly due it having been the birthplace of Saint Boniface and also the existence of a monastery there.
In 1046, Leofric became the Bishop of Crediton: following his appointment he decided that the see should be moved to the larger, more culturally significant and defensible walled town of Exeter. In 1050, King Edward the Confessor authorised that Exeter was to be the seat of the bishop for Devon and Cornwall and that a cathedral was to be built there for the bishop's throne. Thus, Leofric became the last diocesan Bishop of Crediton and the first Bishop of Exeter.
The diocese remained unchanged until 1876, when the former Archdeaconry of Cornwall became the independent Diocese of Truro.
The current diocesan Bishop of Exeter is Robert Atwell, who is assisted by Nick McKinnel, Bishop suffragan of Plymouth (which see was created in 1923) and Sarah Mullally, Bishop suffragan of Crediton (which see was erected in 1897.) The provincial episcopal visitor (for parishes in this diocese – among twelve others in the western part of the Province of Canterbury – which do not accept the ordination of women as priests, since 1994) is Jonathan Goodall, Bishop suffragan of Ebbsfleet (for traditional Anglo-Catholics , and Rod Thomas, Bishop of Maidstone (for Conservative Evangelicals); they are licensed as honorary assistant bishops in the diocese.