The structure of diocese within the Church of England was initially inherited from the western Church as part of the Reformation. During the Reformation a number of new dioceses were founded. No new dioceses were then created until the middle of the 19th century, when dioceses were founded mainly in response to the growing population, especially in the northern industrial cities.
The table below gives the dioceses in alphabetical order, along with their geographic location, province, foundation date and the location of their cathedral (see also List of cathedrals in the United Kingdom).
| Diocese | Province | Territory | Cathedral | Founded |
|---|
Bath and Wells
(Bishop of Bath and Wells) | Canterbury | Somerset | Wells Cathedral | 909 |
Birmingham
(Bishop of Birmingham) | Canterbury | West Midlands metropolitan county (except Coventry and Wolverhampton), North Warwickshire | Birmingham Cathedral | 1906, from Worcester |
Blackburn
(Bishop of Blackburn) | York | Lancashire (except West Lancashire and part of Ribble Valley) | Blackburn Cathedral | 1926, from Manchester |
Bradford
(Bishop of Bradford) | York | Bradford, Craven, part of Ribble Valley | Bradford Cathedral | 1920, from Ripon |
Bristol
(Bishop of Bristol) | Canterbury | Bristol, South Gloucestershire, Swindon, part of North Wiltshire | Bristol Cathedral | 1542 |
Canterbury
(Archbishop of Canterbury) | Canterbury | Eastern Kent | Canterbury Cathedral | 597 |
Carlisle
(Bishop of Carlisle) | York | Cumbria | Carlisle Cathedral | 1133 |
Chelmsford
(Bishop of Chelmsford) | Canterbury | Essex (and London boroughs of Waltham Forest, Redbridge, Havering, Newham and Barking & Dagenham) | Chelmsford Cathedral | 1914, from St Albans |
Chester
(Bishop of Chester) | York | Cheshire (except North Warrington), Wirral, part of Stockport | Chester Cathedral | 1541 |
Chichester
(Bishop of Chichester) | Canterbury | Sussex | Chichester Cathedral | 1075 |
Coventry
(Bishop of Coventry) | Canterbury | Coventry, Warwickshire (except North Warwickshire) | Coventry Cathedral | 1918, from Worcester |
Derby
(Bishop of Derby) | Canterbury | Derbyshire | Derby Cathedral | 1927, from Southwell |
Durham
(Bishop of Durham) | York | County Durham (except Teesdale), Tyne and Wear south of the River Tyne | Durham Cathedral | 995 |
Ely
(Bishop of Ely) | Canterbury | Cambridgeshire (except Peterborough) and west Norfolk | Ely Cathedral | 1109 |
Exeter
(Bishop of Exeter) | Canterbury | Devon | Exeter Cathedral | 1050 |
Gibraltar in Europe
(Bishop of Gibraltar in Europe) | Canterbury | Continental Europe, Morocco, former Soviet Union, Turkey | Gibraltar Cathedral | 1842 |
Gloucester
(Bishop of Gloucester) | Canterbury | Gloucestershire (except South Gloucestershire) | Gloucester Cathedral | 1541 |
Guildford
(Bishop of Guildford) | Canterbury | Surrey (except Tandridge), part of East Hampshire | Guildford Cathedral | 1927, from Winchester |
Hereford
(Bishop of Hereford) | Canterbury | Herefordshire, South-Western Shropshire | Hereford Cathedral | 676 |
Leicester
(Bishop of Leicester) | Canterbury | Leicestershire | Leicester Cathedral | 1927, from Peterborough |
Lichfield
(Bishop of Lichfield) | Canterbury | Staffordshire, Wolverhampton, North-Eastern Shropshire | Lichfield Cathedral | 669 |
Lincoln
(Bishop of Lincoln) | Canterbury | Lincolnshire | Lincoln Cathedral | 1072 |
Liverpool
(Bishop of Liverpool) | York | Merseyside (except Wirral), Warrington, West Lancashire | Liverpool Cathedral | 1880, from Chester |
London
(Bishop of London) | Canterbury | Middlesex | St Paul's Cathedral | 604 |
Manchester
(Bishop of Manchester) | York | Greater Manchester (except most of Stockport) | Manchester Cathedral | 1847, from Chester |
Newcastle
(Bishop of Newcastle) | York | Northumberland, Tyne and Wear north of the River Tyne | Newcastle Cathedral | 1882, from Durham |
Norwich
(Bishop of Norwich) | Canterbury | Norfolk | Norwich Cathedral | 1091 (from Elmham (673) via Thetford (1070)) |
Oxford
(Bishop of Oxford) | Canterbury | Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Berkshire (except Spelthorne) | Oxford Cathedral | 1542 |
Peterborough
(Bishop of Peterborough) | Canterbury | Peterborough, Northamptonshire, Rutland | Peterborough Cathedral | 1541 |
Portsmouth
(Bishop of Portsmouth) | Canterbury | South-Eastern Hampshire, the Isle of Wight | Portsmouth Cathedral | 1927, from Winchester |
Ripon and Leeds
(Bishop of Ripon and Leeds) | York | Leeds, Western North Yorkshire, Teesdale | Ripon Cathedral | 1836, from York |
Rochester
(Bishop of Rochester) | Canterbury | Western Kent | Rochester Cathedral | 604 |
St Albans
(Bishop of St Albans) | Canterbury | Hertfordshire (except part of Broxbourne), Bedfordshire, part of Barnet | St Albans Cathedral | 1877, from Rochester |
St Edmundsbury and Ipswich
(Bishop of St Edmundsbury and Ipswich) | Canterbury | Suffolk | Bury St Edmunds Cathedral | 1914, from Ely and Norwich |
Salisbury
(Bishop of Salisbury) | Canterbury | Wiltshire (except Swindon and part of North Wiltshire), Dorset | Salisbury Cathedral | 1078 |
Sheffield
(Bishop of Sheffield) | York | Sheffield, Rotherham, Doncaster | Sheffield Cathedral | 1914, from York |
Sodor and Man
(Bishop of Sodor and Man) | York | The Isle of Man | Peel Cathedral | 1154 |
Southwark
(Bishop of Southwark) | Canterbury | Greater London south of the River Thames, Tandridge | Southwark Cathedral | 1905, from Rochester |
Southwell and Nottingham
(Bishop of Southwell and Nottingham) | York | Nottinghamshire | Southwell Minster | 1884, from Lichfield/Lincoln |
Truro
(Bishop of Truro) | Canterbury | Cornwall | Truro Cathedral | 1876, from Exeter |
Wakefield
(Bishop of Wakefield) | York | Wakefield, Barnsley, Kirklees, Calderdale | Wakefield Cathedral | 1888, from Ripon |
Winchester
(Bishop of Winchester) | Canterbury | Northern and Western Hampshire, the Channel Islands | Winchester Cathedral | 662 |
Worcester
(Bishop of Worcester) | Canterbury | Worcestershire | Worcester Cathedral | 680 |
York
(Archbishop of York) | York | City of York, East Riding of Yorkshire, Hull, Eastern North Yorkshire | York Minster | 625 |
