| Bishop Of Rochester |
Article Index for Bishop Of |
Website Links For Bishop |
Information AboutBishop Of Rochester |
| CATEGORIES ABOUT BISHOP OF ROCHESTER | |
| bishops of rochester | |
| 604 establishments | |
| christianity in kent | |
| history of kent | |
| SHOPPER'S DELIGHT | |
|
The diocese covers the west of the County of Kent . The See is in the City of Rochester where the seat is located at The Cathedral Church Of Christ And The Blessed Virgin Mary , which was founded as a cathedral in 604 . For the late 17th and the 18th Century it was customary for the Bishop of Rochester to also be appointed Dean of Westminster Abbey . The Bishop's residence is Bishopscourt, Rochester, Kent. The office was created in 604 at the founding of the diocese in the Kingdom Of Kent under King Æthelbert . The current bishop is the Right Reverend Dr Michael James '''Nazir-Ali''' , PhD, the 106th '''Lord Bishop of Rochester''', who signs ''Michael Roffen''. The diocese of Rochester was historically the oldest and smallest of all the suffragan sees of Canterbury. Founded by St Augustine, who in 604 consecrated St Justus as its first bishop. The diocesan territory consisted roughly of the Western part of Kent, separated from the rest of the county by the Medway, though the diocesan boundaries did not follow the river very closely. Rochester cathedral, founded by King Æthelbert and dedicated to St Andrew, like the Roman monastery from which St Augustine and St Justus had set out for England, was served by a college of secular priests and endowed with land near the city called Priestfield. While it suffered much from the Mercians (676) and the Danes, the city retained its importance, and after the Norman Conquest a new cathedral was begun by the Norman bishop Gundulf. He also replaced the secular chaplains by Benedictine monks, translated the relics of St Paulinus to a silver shrine that became a place of pilgrimage, obtained several royal grants of land, and proved a great benefactor to his cathedral city. By the time of Gundulf's death he had built the nave and Western front, the Western transept being added between 1179 and 1200 and the Eastern transept during the reign of Henry III. The cathedral is small, being only 306 feet long, but its nave is the oldest in England and it has a fine Norman crypt. Besides the shrine of St Paulinus, the cathedral contained the relics of St Ithamar, the first Saxon to be consecrated bishop, and of St William of Perth. In 1130 the cathedral was consecrated by the of Canterbury , assisted by thirteen bishops in the presence of Henry I, but the occasion was marred by a great fire which nearly destroyed the whole city and damaged the new cathedral. After the burial of St William of Perth, a murdered Scottish pilgrim, in 1201 the offerings at his tomb were so great, that by their means the choir was rebuilt and the central tower was added (1343), thus completing the cathedral. From the foundation of the see the Archbishop of Canterbury had enjoyed the privilege of nominating the bishop, but Archbishop Theobald transferred the right to the Benedictine monks of the cathedral, who exercised it for the first time in 1148. The restricted territory of the diocese meant that it needed only one archdeacon to supervise all 97 parishes. List of the Bishops of the Diocese of Rochester, England ''Bishops of Rochester who were also concurrently Dean of Westminster are marked with an asterisk.'' Sources
See also |