Bishop of London

"Bishop of Essex" redirects here. For the modern bishops of Essex, see Bishop of Chelmsford.
Not to be confused with Coptic Orthodox Archbishop of London; Bishops of the Roman Catholic Diocese of London, Ontario; or Archbishop of Westminster.

Bishop of London
Bishopric
anglican
Coat of arms of the {{{name}}}
Arms of the Bishop of London: Gules, two swords in saltire points uppermost argent hilts and pommels or[1]
Incumbent:
Sarah Mullally
since 8 March 2018
StyleThe Right Reverend and Right Honourable
Location
Ecclesiastical provinceCanterbury
ResidenceThe Old Deanery, Dean's Court, City of London
Information
First holderThean
Established4th century, but current establishment from 604
DioceseLondon
CathedralSt Paul's Cathedral

The bishop of London is the ordinary of the Church of England's Diocese of London in the Province of Canterbury. By custom the Bishop is also Dean of the Chapel Royal since 1723.

The diocese covers 458 km2 (177 sq mi) of 17 boroughs of Greater London north of the River Thames (historically the City of London and the County of Middlesex) and a small part of the County of Surrey (the district of Spelthorne, historically part of Middlesex). The see is in the City of London, where the seat is St Paul's Cathedral, which was founded as a cathedral in 604 and was rebuilt from 1675 following the Great Fire of London (1666).

Third in seniority in the Church of England after the archbishops of Canterbury and York, the bishop is one of five senior bishops who sit as of right as one of the 26 Lords Spiritual in the House of Lords (for the remaining diocesan bishops of lesser rank, seats are attained upon vacancy, determined by chronological seniority).[2] The other four senior bishops are the archbishop of Canterbury, the archbishop of York, the bishop of Durham and the bishop of Winchester.

The bishop's residence is The Old Deanery, Dean's Court, City of London. Previously, until 1973, Fulham Palace in West London was the residence for over 1300 years, and from the 18th century, the bishop also had chambers at London House next to the Bishop's Chapel in Aldersgate Street.[3][citation needed]

The current (133rd) bishop of London is Sarah Mullally. She was confirmed on 8 March 2018 after acting in post immediately after her canonical election on 25 January 2018.[4][5] The diocesan bishop of London has had direct episcopal oversight in the Two Cities area (the City of London and the City of Westminster) since the institution of the London area scheme in 1979.[6]

  1. ^ Debrett's Peerage, 1968, p.702, with addition of "points uppermost" for clarity
  2. ^ See Lords Spiritual, Wikipedia, and further see "Lords Spiritual and Temporal", www.ukparliament
  3. ^ Noorthouck 1773, pp. 543–545.
  4. ^ Diocese of London – Next Bishop of London announced (Accessed 18 December 2017)
  5. ^ Diocese of London – Mullally's installation as Bishop of London (Accessed 26 January 2018)
  6. ^ "4: The Dioceses Commission, 1978–2002" (PDF). Church of England. Archived from the original (PDF) on 7 June 2012. Retrieved 23 April 2013.