Bishop of Norwich

Bishop of Norwich
Bishopric
anglican
Incumbent:
Graham Usher
Location
Ecclesiastical provinceCanterbury
ResidenceBishop's House, Norwich
Information
First holderBedwinus
Herbert de Losinga (first bishop at Norwich)
Established672
1094 (translated to Norwich)
DioceseNorwich
CathedralNorwich Cathedral (since 1094)
Arms of the See of Norwich: Azure, three mitres labelled or[1]

The Bishop of Norwich is the ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Norwich in the Province of Canterbury. The diocese covers most of the county of Norfolk and part of Suffolk. The bishop of Norwich is Graham Usher.[2]

The see is in the city of Norwich and the seat is located at the Cathedral Church of the Holy and Undivided Trinity. The bishop's residence is Bishop's House, Norwich. It is claimed that the bishop is also the abbot of St Benet's Abbey, the contention being that instead of dissolving this monastic institution, Henry VIII united the position of abbot with that of bishop of Norwich, making St Benet's perhaps the only monastic institution to escape de jure dissolution, although it was despoiled by its last abbot.

East Anglia has had a bishopric since 630, when the first cathedral was founded at Dommoc, possibly to be identified as the submerged village of Dunwich. In 673, the see was divided into the bishoprics of Dunwich and Elmham; which were reunited by mid-950s, with the seat located at Elmham. After the Conquest the seat was moved in 1070 to Thetford, before finally being located in Norwich in 1094 under William II, ahead of the completion of the new cathedral building.

  1. ^ Debrett's Peerage, 1968, p.852
  2. ^ "Next Bishop of Norwich announced". 3 May 2019.