| Bishopric: | Worcester |
| Border: | anglican |
| Coat: | Diocese of Worcester arms.svg |
| Coat Size: | 200 |
| Coat Caption: | Arms of the Bishop of Worcester: Argent, ten torteaux gules, four, three, two and one[1] |
| Incumbent: | John Inge |
| Province: | Canterbury |
| Residence: | The Old Palace, Worcester |
| Established: | 680 |
| Cathedral: | Worcester Cathedral |
| First Incumbent: | Bosel |
| Diocese: | Worcester |
The Bishop of Worcester is the head of the Church of England Diocese of Worcester in the Province of Canterbury, England.
The title can be traced back to the foundation of the diocese in the year 680.[2] From then until the 16th century, the bishops were in full communion with the Roman Catholic Church. During the Reformation, the church in England broke away from the authority of the Pope and the Roman Catholic Church, at first temporarily and later more permanently. Since the Reformation, the Bishop and Diocese of Worcester has been part of the Church of England and the Anglican Communion.
The diocese covers most of the county of Worcestershire, including the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley and parts of the City of Wolverhampton.[3] The Episcopal see is in the city of Worcester where the bishop's throne is located at the Cathedral Church of Christ and the Blessed Virgin Mary.[4] The bishop's official residence is the Old Palace, Worcester.[5] The bishops had two residences outside the city: Hartlebury Castle near Kidderminster from the 13th century to 2007 and a palace at Alvechurch until it was pulled down in the 17th century.
From the elevations of Oswald of Worcester in 961 at Worcester and 972 at York, until 1023 the see was usually held jointly with the (then rather poorer) Archbishopric of York.
The current bishop of Worcester is John Inge.
| Bishops of Worcester | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| From | Until | Incumbent | Notes |
| 680 | 691 | Bosel | Resigned the See |
| 691 | 693 | Oftfor | |
| 693 | 717 | Ecgwine of Evesham | Also recorded as Ecgwin, Egwin and Eegwine |
| 718 | 744 | Wilfrith (I.) | Also recorded as Wilfrid |
| 743 | 775 | Milred | Also recorded as Mildred and Hildred |
| 775 | 777 | Waermund | Also recorded as Wærmund |
| 777 | 780/81 | Tilhere | |
| 781 | 799 | Heathured | Also recorded as Hathored, AEthelred and Æthelred |
| 799 | 822 | Denebeorht | Also recorded as Deneberht |
| 822 | 845/48 | Heahbeorht | Also recorded as Heahberht and Eadbert |
| 845/48 | 872 | Ealhhun | Also recorded as Alwin |
| 873 | 915 | Werferth | Also recorded as Waerfrith, Wærferth, Werfrith and Waerfrith |
| 915 | 922 | Æthelhun | |
| 922 | 929 | Wilfrith (II.) | |
| fl.929 | 957 | Koenwald | Also recorded as Cenwald and Coenwald |
| 957 | 959 | Dunstan | Previously Abbot of Glastonbury; translated to London; and later to Canterbury |
| 961 | 992 | Oswald | Held both Worcester and York (971–992) |
| 992 | 1002 | Ealdwulf | Previously Abbot of Peterborough; held both Worcester and York (995–1002) |
| 1002 | 1016 | Wulfstan (I.) | Translated from London; also Archbishop of York (1002–1023) |
| 1016 | 1033 | Leofsige | |
| 1033 | 1038 | Beorhtheah | |
| 1040 | Lyfing (1st term) | Deprived from Worcester; also Bishop of Crediton and Cornwall (1027–1046) | |
| 1040 | 1041 | Ælfric Puttoc | Also Archbishop of York, 1023–1041; deprived from both |
| 1041 | 1046 | Lyfing (2nd term) | Restored to Worcester |
| 1046 | 1061 | Ealdred | Translated from Hereford; later to York |
| 1062 | 1095 | Wulfstan (II.) | Canonized on 14 May 1203 by Pope Innocent III |
| align=center colspan="4" | Source(s):[6] [7] | ||
| Bishops of Worcester | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| From | Until | Incumbent | Notes |
| 1096 | 1112 | Samson | |
| 1113 | 1123 | Theulf | Nominated in 1113; consecrated in 1115 |
| 1125 | 1150 | Simon | |
| 1151 | 1157 | John de Pageham | |
| 1158 | 1160 | Alured | |
| 1163 | 1179 | Roger | Also recorded as Roger of Gloucester |
| 1180 | 1185 | Baldwin | Translated to Canterbury |
| 1185 | 1190 | William of Northall | |
| 1191 | 1193 | Robert FitzRalph | Previously Archdeacon of Nottingham |
| 1193 | 1195 | Henry de Sully | Previously Abbot of Glastonbury Abbey |
| 1196 | 1198 | John of Coutances | |
| 1199 | 1212 | Mauger | Elected in 1199, but quashed by Pope Innocent III; later postulated to the See; consecrated in 1200 |
| 1213 | 1214 | Randulf of Evesham (bishop-elect) | Elected in December 1213, but quashed by the Papal legate, Niccolò de Romanis, in January 1214 |
| 1214 | 1216 | Walter de Gray | Translated to York |
| 1216 | 1218 | Sylvester | Also recorded as Sylvester of Evesham |
| 1218 | 1236 | William de Blois | |
| 1237 | 1266 | Walter de Cantilupe | |
| 1266 | 1268 | Nicholas of Ely | Formerly Archdeacon of Ely;translated to Winchester |
| 1268 | 1302 | Godfrey Giffard | |
| 1302 | John St German (bishop-elect) | Elected in March 1302, but quashed in October 1302 | |
| 1302 | 1307 | William Gainsborough | |
| 1307 | 1313 | Walter Reynolds | Translated to Canterbury |
| 1313 | 1317 | Walter Maidstone | |
| 1317 | 1327 | Thomas Cobham | Previously Archbishop-elect of Canterbury in 1313 |
| 1327 | Wulstan Bransford (bishop-elect) | Elected bishop but was quashed; later elected in 1339 | |
| 1327 | 1333 | Adam Orleton | Translated from Hereford; later to Winchester |
| 1333 | 1337 | Simon Montacute | Translated to Ely |
| 1337 | 1338 | Thomas Hemenhale | Translated from Norwich |
| 1339 | 1349 | Wulstan Bransford | |
| 1349 | 1353 | John of Thoresby | Translated from St David's; later to York |
| 1352 | 1361 | Reginald Brian | Translated from St David's |
| 1362 | 1363 | John Barnet | Translated to Bath and Wells; and later to Ely |
| 1363 | 1368 | William Whittlesey | Translated from Rochester; later to Canterbury |
| 1368 | 1373 | William Lenn | Translated from Chichester |
| 1373 | 1375 | Walter Lyghe (bishop-elect) | Elected in 1373, but quashed in 1375 |
| 1375 | 1395 | Henry Wakefield | |
| 1394 | 1401 | Robert Tideman of Winchcombe | Translated from Llandaff |
| 1401 | 1407 | Richard Clifford | Previously Bishop-elect of Bath and Wells; later translated to London |
| 1407 | 1419 | Thomas Peverel | Translated from Llandaff |
| 1419 | 1426 | Philip Morgan | Translated to Ely |
| 1425 | 1433 | Thomas Poulton | Translated from Chichester |
| 1433 | 1435 | Thomas Brunce (bishop-elect) | Elected bishop, but never consecrated; later became Bishop of Rochester |
| 1434 | 1443 | Thomas Bourchier | Translated to Ely; and later to Canterbury |
| 1443 | 1476 | John Carpenter | Nominated in 1443; consecrated in 1444; resigned the See in 1476; apparently used the style "Bishop of Worcester and Westbury"[8] [9] |
| 1476 | 1486 | John Alcock | Translated from Rochester; later to Ely |
| 1486 | 1497 | Robert Morton | Nominated in 1486; consecrated in 1487 |
| 1497 | 1498 | Giovanni de' Gigli | |
| 1498 | 1521 | Silvestro de' Gigli | |
| 1521 | 1522 | Giulio di Giuliano de' Medici | Appointed apostolic administrator of the See of Worcester in 1521 and resigned in 1522; also Archbishop of Florence and Narbonne and Bishop of Eger; he was elected as Pope Clement VII in 1523.[10] |
| 1522 | 1535 | Girolamo Ghinucci | Deprived of the See by Henry VIII when the king broke with Rome; later in 1535 Ghinucci was created a cardinal.[11] |
| align=center colspan="4" | Source(s):[12] [13] [14] | ||
| Bishops of Worcester | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| From | Until | Incumbent | Notes |
| 1535 | 1539 | Hugh Latimer | Resigned the See |
| 1539 | 1543 | John Bell | |
| 1543 | 1551 | Nicholas Heath (1st term) | Translated from Rochester; deprived of the See |
| 1552 | 1554 | John Hooper | Translated from Gloucester, 20 May 1552 when Gloucester was reunited to Worcester; called "Bishop of Worcester and Gloucester" and "of Gloucester and Worcester"; deprived of the See.[15] [16] [17] |
| 1554 | 1555 | Nicholas Heath (2nd term) | Restored to the See; later translated to York |
| 1555 | 1559 | Richard Pate | Deprived of the See. |
| align=center colspan="4" | Source(s):[18] [19] | ||
| Bishops of Worcester | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| From | Until | Incumbent | Notes |
| 1559 | 1570 | Edwin Sandys | Translated to London; and later to York |
| 1570 (designate) | James Calfhill | Archdeacon of Colchester (1565–1570). Allegedly nominated by Queen Elizabeth I, but died before election. | |
| 1571 | 1576 | Nicholas Bullingham | Translated from Lincoln |
| 1577 | 1583 | John Whitgift | Translated to Canterbury |
| 1584 | 1591 | Edmund Freke | Translated from Norwich |
| 1593 | 1595 | Richard Fletcher | Translated from Bristol; later to London |
| 1596 | 1597 | Thomas Bilson | Translated to Winchester |
| 1597 | 1610 | Gervase Babington | Translated from Exeter |
| 1610 | 1616 | Henry Parry | Translated from Gloucester |
| 1617 | 1641 | John Thornborough | Translated from Bristol |
| 1641 | 1646 | John Prideaux | Deprived of the see when the English episcopacy was abolished by Parliament on 9 October 1646. |
| 1646 | 1660 | The see was abolished during the Commonwealth and the Protectorate.[20] [21] | |
| 1660 | 1662 | George Morley | Translated to Winchester |
| 1662 | John Gauden | Translated from Exeter | |
| 1662 | 1663 | John Earle | Translated to Salisbury |
| 1663 | 1670 | Robert Skinner | Translated from Bristol |
| 1671 | 1675 | Walter Blandford | Translated from Oxford |
| 1675 | 1683 | James Fleetwood | |
| 1683 | 1689 | William Thomas | Translated from St David's |
| 1689 | 1699 | Edward Stillingfleet | |
| 1699 | 1717 | William Lloyd | Translated from Lichfield and Coventry |
| 1717 | 1743 | John Hough | Translated from Lichfield and Coventry |
| 1743 | 1759 | Isaac Maddox | Translated from St Asaph |
| 1759 | 1774 | James Johnson | Translated from Gloucester |
| 1774 | 1781 | Brownlow North | Translated from Lichfield and Coventry; later to Winchester |
| 1781 | 1808 | Richard Hurd | Translated from Lichfield and Coventry |
| 1808 | 1831 | Folliott Cornewall | Translated from Hereford |
| 1831 | 1841 | Robert Carr | Translated from Chichester |
| 1841 | 1860 | Henry Pepys | Translated from Sodor and Man |
| 1861 | 1890 | Henry Philpott | |
| 1890 | 1901 | John Perowne | Resigned |
| 1902 | 1905 | Charles Gore | Translated to Birmingham; and later to Oxford |
| 1905 | 1918 | Huyshe Yeatman-Biggs | Translated from Southwark; later to Coventry |
| 1919 | 1931 | Ernest Pearce | |
| 1931 | 1941 | Arthur Perowne | Translated from Bradford |
| 1941 | 1955 | William Wilson Cash | |
| 1956 | 1971 | Mervyn Charles-Edwards | |
| 1971 | 1981 | Robin Woods | |
| 1982 | 1996 | Philip Goodrich [22] | Previously Bishop of Tonbridge (1973–1982) |
| 1997 | 2007 | Peter Selby | Previously Bishop of Kingston-upon-Thames (1984–1992). Also Bishop to HM Prisons (2001–2007) |
| 2007 (acting) | David Walker | Bishop of Dudley. Episcopal commissary (acting diocesan bishop) during interregnum.[23] | |
| 2007 | incumbent | John Inge | Retirement scheduled for 9 October 2024.[24] |
| align=center colspan="4" | Source(s):[25] | ||
Among those who have served as assistant bishops of the diocese are: