Diocese of Leicester

The Diocese of Leicester is a Church of England diocese based in Leicester and covering the current County of Leicestershire.^[1] The cathedral is Leicester Cathedral, where the Bishop of Leicester sits.

The diocese is divided into two Archdeaconries: the Archdeaconry of Leicester, covering the east of the county, and the Archdeaconry of Loughborough, covering the west. The former is divided into the deaneries of Christianity North and South (covering the city), Framland, Gartree First and Second, and Goscote. The latter is divided into Akeley East, South and West, Guthlaxton and Sparkenhoe West and East.

The Diocese owns a retreat house at Launde Abbey near East Norton.

History

The area first held a bishopric in 680, and the Anglo-Saxon cathedral was probably located close to (if not on the site of) the present cathedral. The original diocese fell victim to the invasion by the Danes around 870 and after the establishment of the Danelaw in 886 the diocese's seat was moved to Oxfordshire and, taking over the existing Diocese of Lindine (created in 678), became the Diocese of Dorchester. From Dorchester, Oxon the see was later moved to Lincoln in 1072 under King William I -- the diocese then becoming the Diocese of Lincoln. King Henry VIII divided the larger dioceses at the time of the English Reformation and the Diocese of Lincoln was divided in three. Leicestershire was included in what became the new Diocese of Peterborough. In 1539 a new cathedral was being erected, but it was never completed and Peterborough was chosen as the seat of the new diocese and Peterborough Abbey the cathedral.

In the 19th century there were suffragan bishops of Leicester whilst the bishopric was still within the its parent diocese of Peterborough. The modern diocese was founded in 1926 from the archdeaconries of Leicester and Loughborough and part of the archdeaconry of Northampton, all from the Diocese of Peterborough.^[2]

References

• Church of England Statistics 2002

1. ^ Rutland was included in Leicestershire for some years from 1974, but continued to form the Archdeaconry of Oakham in the Diocese of Peterborough rather than being part of the Diocese of Leicester
2. ^ London Gazette: no. 33220, p. 7322, 12 November 1926. Retrieved on 2008-04-27.

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Coordinates: 52°38′05″N 1°08′13″W / 52.6347°N 1.1370°W / 52.6347; -1.1370