The Diocese of Derby
The Diocese of Derby consists of most of Derbyshire and a couple of parishes on the fringes of Staffordshire.
The cathedral is in Derby itself.
The diocese serves a population of around one million people and has more than 300 churches.
It works in communities, schools, prisons and hospitals as well being represented in various other aspects of city and county life.
Under three archdeacons, the Archdeaconries of Derby City and South Derbyshire, Derbyshire Peak and Dales, and East Derbyshire consist of deaneries and parishes all of which work alongside Christians of other denominations.
The diocese began life as the Archdeaconry of Derby and was originally part of the Diocese of Lichfield.
It was moved to form part of the Diocese of Southwell, when that diocese was created in 1884.
In 1927 the Archdeaconries of Derby and Chesterfield became the new Diocese of Derby, as a response to population growth.
All Saints Derby was hallowed as the Cathedral on the 28th October 1927 and the next day the first Bishop of Derby, Edmund Pearce, was installed.
Although only founded as a separate diocese in 1927, the county has a long and rich Christian history.
Here are some facts and figures about the Diocese of Derby.
- All the Anglican (Church of England) churches in the UK fall into either the province of Canterbury, or the province of York. The Diocese of Derby is in the Canterbury province. Read more about the Church of England and how it is structured on www.cofe.anglican.org
- The geographical boundaries of the Diocese of Derby and the County of Derbyshire are virtually identical.
- The geographical area of the Diocese is around 997 square miles.
- Its population is around 1,056,000 (the City of Derby is around 261,400).
(Source- Population of local authorities from Census date 2021) - There are 255 parishes.
- There are 330 Church of England churches in the diocese.
- There are 220 licensed clergy (150 stipendiary 70 NSM).
- There are 70+ licensed lay readers.
- Derby was founded as a city in 1977.
- The Collegiate and Parish Church of All Saints became a Cathedral on Thursday, 7 July, 1927, although not hallowed until Friday, 27 October, 1927. It cost £10,000 to adapt the church into a Cathedral.
- The Diocese is divided into three Archdeaconries: Derbyshire Peak and Dales, East Derbyshire and Derby City and South Derbyshire.
- The Diocese is divided further into eight Deaneries: Peak, Carsington, and Dove and Derwent in Derbyshire Peak and Dales; North East, Hardwick, and South East in East Derbyshire; Derby City and Mercia in the Archdeaconry of Derby City and South Derbyshire.
- Since the Diocese was legally inaugurated in 1927, there have been eight diocesan bishops
- Edmund Pearce - 1927 - 1936
- Alfred Rawlinson - 1936- 1959
- Geoffrey Allen - 1959 - 1969
- Cyril Bowles - 1969 - 1988
- Peter Dawes - 1988 - 1995
- Jonathan Bailey - 1995 - 2005
- Alastair Redfern - 2005 - 2018
- Libby Lane - 2019 - present
- There have been two suffragan (or assistant) Bishops of Derby (when Derby was part of the Southwell Diocese before 1927):
- Edward Ash Were - appointed 1889
- Charles Thomas Abraham - appointed 1909
- There have been seven Bishops of Repton:
- William Warren Hunt - 1965 - 1977
- Stephen Edmund Verney - 1977 - 1985
- Francis Henry Arthur Richmond -1986 - 1999
- David Christopher Hawtin - 1999 - 2007
- Humphrey Southern - 2007 - 2015
- Jan McFarlane - 2016 - 2020
- Malcolm Macnaughton - 2021 - present
