The Archdeacons in the Diocese of Southwark are senior clergy in the Church of England in South London and Surrey. They currently include: the archdeacons of Southwark, of Reigate (formerly of Kingston-on-Thames) and of Lewisham & Greenwich (formerly of Lewisham), the Archdeacon of Croydon and the archdeacons of Wandsworth and of Lambeth. Each one has responsibility over a geographical area within the diocese.
The Diocese of Southwark was created on 1 May 1905 from two Diocese of Rochester archdeaconries: the archdeaconry of Southwark and the archdeaconry of Kingston-on-Thames. [1] Parts of Surrey (from the dioceses of Winchester and of London) had first been transferred to Rochester diocese on 1 August 1877, [2] and were organised into the Southwark archdeaconry on 3 May 1878. [3] In 1864, the Bishop of Winchester had split the rural deanery of Southwark into three: Lambeth, Southwark, and Streatham. [4] The Kingston archdeaconry was then created by Order in Council soon after, on 22 August 1879, by splitting the archdeaconry of Southwark: [5] the new Kingston archdeaconry consisted of the rural deaneries of Barnes, Beddington, Godstone, Kingston, Reigate, and Streatham; and the continuing Southwark one those of Battersea, Camberwell, Clapham, Kennington, Lambeth, Newington, and Southwark. [6] Lewisham rural deanery was erected, and other deanery boundaries altered, in early 1886. [7]
Not long after the erection of the Diocese of Southwark, the new archdeaconry of Lewisham was created, on 6 March 1906, from part of the Southwark archdeaconry (Camberwell and Dulwich deaneries) and part of the diocese not then in an archdeaconry (Greenwich, Lewisham, and Woolwich deaneries; [8] which had previously been in the Archdeaconry of Rochester). [9]
The archdeaconry of Wandsworth was created in 1973, the Croydon archdeaconry (er. 1930) was moved from the Diocese of Canterbury on 1 January 1985. [10] In 1986, the archdeaconry of Reigate was created from a renaming and reorganisation of the previous archdeaconry of Kingston-on-Thames [5] and the archdeaconry of Lambeth was created from Southwark archdeaconry. Lewisham archdeaconry was renamed the Archdeaconry of Lewisham & Greenwich in 2008.
As of January 2021 [update] , the six archdeaconries of the Diocese of Southwark comprise the following 24 deaneries: [11]
The Archdeacon of West Cumberland is responsible for the archdeaconry of West Cumberland, one of three administrative divisions of the Church of England (Anglican) Diocese of Carlisle. The archdeaconry was created by Order-in-Council on 7 August 1959.
The Archdeacon of Rochester is a senior office-holder in the Diocese of Rochester Like other archdeacons, they are administrators in the diocese at large. The present incumbent is the Venerable Andy Wooding Jones.
The Archdeacon of Macclesfield is a senior ecclesiastical officer within the Diocese of Chester. As such she or he is responsible for the disciplinary supervision of the clergy within its six rural deaneries: Bowdon, Congleton, Knutsford, Macclesfield, Mottram, Nantwich, Chadkirk, Cheadle and Stockport.
The Archdeacon of Warwick is the senior ecclesiastical officer in charge of the archdeaconry of Warwick in the Diocese of Coventry. The Archdeaconry of Warwick has five Deaneries which centre on Warwick and Leamington Spa, Alcester, Stratford upon Avon, Shipston and Southam.
The Archdeacon of Hackney is a senior ecclesiastical officer within the Diocese of London. As such, he or she is responsible for the disciplinary supervision of the clergy within its three area deaneries: Hackney, Islington and Tower Hamlets.
The Archdeacon of Westmorland and Furness is a senior ecclesiastical officer within the Diocese of Carlisle. As such he or she is responsible for the disciplinary supervision of the clergy within its four rural deaneries: Barrow, Windermere, Kendal and Furness.
The Archdeacon of Plymouth is a senior clergy position in the Church of England Diocese of Exeter and is responsible for the supervision of the clergy within the five rural deaneries: Ivybridge, Plymouth Moorside, Plymouth Devonport, Plymouth Sutton and Tavistock.
The Archdeacon of Croydon is a senior ecclesiastical officer within the Diocese of Southwark. As such the deacon is responsible for the disciplinary supervision of the clergy within its five rural deaneries: Croydon Addington, Croydon Central, Croydon North, Croydon South and Sutton.
The Archdeacon of Leeds, previously Archdeacon of Ripon, is a senior ecclesiastical officer within the Diocese of Leeds. As such he or she is responsible for the disciplinary supervision of the clergy within the four deaneries making up the archdeaconry of Leeds. Until 2014, the post was in the Diocese of Ripon.
The Archdeacon of Rochdale is a senior ecclesiastical officer within the Diocese of Manchester.
The Archdeacon of Loughborough is a senior ecclesiastical officer within the Diocese of Leicester. The archdeaconry was created within the Diocese of Peterborough and from the Archdeaconry of Leicester on 25 February 1921 but became part of the new Diocese of Leicester upon its creation on 12 November 1926.
The Archdeacon of Chesterfield was a senior ecclesiastical officer within the Diocese of Derby until 2022. Until 1927 the archdeaconry of Chesterfield was in the diocese of Southwell.
The Archdeacon of Doncaster is a senior ecclesiastical officer within the Diocese of Sheffield, responsible for the disciplinary supervision of the clergy within the six area deaneries: Adwick-le-Street, Doncaster, Snaith & Hatfield, Tankersley, Wath and West Doncaster.
The archdeacons in the Diocese of Liverpool are senior ecclesiastical officers in the Church of England in a highly irregular area surrounding the city of Liverpool. They are the archdeacons of Liverpool, of St Helens and Warrington, of Knowsley and Sefton, and of Wigan and West Lancashire; each one has responsibility over a geographical area within the diocese. The archdeacons are responsible for the disciplinary supervision of the clergy within their archdeaconries.
The Archdeacon of Cheltenham is a senior cleric in the Diocese of Gloucester who is responsible for some pastoral care and discipline of clergy in the Cheltenham archdeaconry.
The Archdeacon of Dorking is a senior ecclesiastical officer in the Diocese of Guildford, responsible for clergy discipline and church buildings within the area of her/his archdeaconry.
The Archdeacon of Malmesbury is a senior ecclesiastical officer within the Diocese of Bristol. As such she or he is responsible for the disciplinary supervision of the clergy within its four rural deaneries: Chippenham, Kingswood and South Gloucestershire, North Wiltshire and Swindon. Christopher Bryan has been the incumbent since 2019.
The Archdeacon of Tonbridge is a senior ecclesiastical officer in charge of the Archdeaconry of Tonbridge in the Church of England Diocese of Rochester. The archdeaconry was created from Rochester archdeaconry by Order in Council on 4 April 1906.
The Archdeacon of Sheffield and Rotherham is a senior ecclesiastical officer within the Diocese of Sheffield, responsible for the disciplinary supervision of the clergy within the six area deaneries.
The archdeacons in the Diocese in Europe are senior clergy of the Church of England Diocese in Europe. They each have responsibility over their own archdeaconry, of which there are currently seven, each of which is composed of one or more deaneries, which are composed in turn of chaplaincies.