Bishop of Norwich

Bishop of Norwich
Bishopric
anglican
Incumbent: Graham Usher
Location
Ecclesiastical province	Canterbury
Residence	Bishop's House, Norwich
Information
First holder	Bedwinus Herbert de Losinga (first bishop at Norwich)
Established	672 1094 (translated to Norwich)
Diocese	Norwich
Cathedral	Norwich Cathedral (since 1094)

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.

In about 630 or 631, a diocese was established by St. Felix for the Kingdom of the East Angles, with his episcopal seat at Dunwich on the Suffolk coast. In 672, the diocese was divided into the sees of Dunwich and Elmham by St. Theodore, Archbishop of Canterbury.

The line of bishops of Elmham continued until it was interrupted by the Danish Viking invasions in the late 9th and early 10th centuries. By the mid 950s, the sees of Elmham and Dunwich were reunited under one bishop, with the episcopal see at Elmham. After the Norman conquest, the see was transferred to Thetford in 1075, and soon afterwards to Norwich in 1094.

Though the see took the name Norwich in the 11th century, its history goes back 400 years earlier, to the final conversion of the kingdom of East Anglia by St Felix. The East Angles became Christian during the reign of Sigeberht, who succeeded to the kingdom in 628. Felix fixed his see at Dommoc, which may have been at Dunwich, now almost entirely submerged off the coast of Suffolk. From there he evangelized the areas corresponding to the modern counties of Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire, which later were to form the diocese of Norwich. He was succeeded in turn by Thomas in 647, Brigilsus (died about 669) and Bifus. Upon the death of Bifus, in 673 Theodore, the Archbishop of Canterbury, divided the see between Dunwich and Elmham.

The see of Elmham came to an end in about 870, after the East Anglian king Edmund and the bishop Humbertus were murdered by the Danes. East Anglia was ravaged, the churches and monasteries destroyed, and Christianity was only practised with difficulty. Wilred, Bishop of Dunwich seems then to have reunited the dioceses, choosing Elmham as his see. The line of his successors at Elmham then descended to Herfast, a chaplain to William the Conqueror, who removed his see to Thetford Priory and died in 1084.

Herbert de Losinga obtained his appointment in 1091 by means of a simoniacal gift to King William Rufus to secure his election, but being subsequently struck with remorse went to Rome in 1094 to obtain absolution from the pope. Herbert founded a priory in Norwich in expiation for his sin and at the same time moved his see there from Thetford in 1094 under William. The See of Thetford was formed when Herfast moved the episcopal see from Elmham to Thetford in 1075. This short-lived see continued until it was moved to Norwich in 1094.^[3][4] The chapter of secular canons was dissolved and monks took their place. The foundation-stone of the new cathedral at Norwich was laid in 1096, in honour of the Blessed Trinity. By the time of his death in 1119, Herbert de Losinga had completed the choir, which is apsidal and encircled by a procession path, and which originally gave access to three Norman chapels. His successor, Everard, completed the long Norman nave so that the cathedral is a very early twelfth-century building, modified naturally by later additions and alterations. The chief of these is the Lady Chapel (c. 1250, destroyed by the Protestant Dean Gardiner 1573–1589); the cloisters (c. 1300), the West Window (c. 1440), the rood screen, the spire and the vault spanning the nave (c. 1450). The cathedral suffered much from iconoclasm during the Reformation and the civil wars.

The Norwich diocese consisted of Norfolk and Suffolk with some parts of Cambridgeshire, being divided into four archdeaconries: Norfolk, Norwich, Suffolk, and Sudbury. At the end of the seventeenth century there were 1,121 parish-churches, and this number had probably not changed much since Catholic times.

The main religious houses in the medieval diocese were the Benedictine Abbeys of Bury St Edmunds, Wymondham, and St Benet's of Hulme, the cathedral priory of Norwich, along with the Cistercian Abbey of Sibton, the only Cistercian Abbey in East Anglia (the ruins now privately owned by the Levett-Scrivener family^[5]), and the abbeys of the Augustinian Canons at Wendling, Langley, and Laystone. Both Dominican and Franciscan convents were to be found at Lynn, Norwich, Yarmouth, Dunwich, and Ipswich, while the Dominicans also had houses at Thetford and Sudbury and the Franciscans at Bury St Edmund's and at Walsingham, where the great shrine of Our Lady was, a foundation of Augustinian canons. The Carmelites were at Lynn, Norwich, Yarmouth, and Blakeney; and the Austin Friars at Norwich, Lynn, and Orford.

The last bishop before the start of the English Reformation was Richard Nykke (succeeded 1501), who was succeeded by William Rugg in 1536. After him came in 1550 Thomas Thirlby, who had already been appointed Bishop of Westminster by the King alone but was reconciled to the Pope in the reign of Queen Mary. After him in 1554 came John Hopton, the last Bishop of Norwich in communion with Rome, who died in 1558. In the early 17th century, Bishop Wren urged the restoration and beautification of churches, much previously neglected, and the use of copes in worship against a background of resistance. Several successors including Richard Montagu a public controversialist, continued attempts to restore a degree of catholic worship. However, Norwich was heavily influenced by Puritanism and in 1643, a Puritan mob invaded the cathedral and destroyed all Catholic symbols. (The bishop of the day, Joseph Hall, wrote despairingly of the despoliation, in his book, Hard Measures). Almost in ruins, the cathedral would be repaired at the Restoration.

Post-Reformation Bishops of Norwich^[12][13]

From	Until	Incumbent	Notes
1560	1575	John Parkhurst	Nominated on 27 March 1560 and consecrated on 1 September 1560. Died in office on 2 February 1575.
1575	1584	Edmund Freke	Translated from Rochester. Nominated on 21 July 1575 and confirmed on 14 November 1575. Translated to Worcester on 5 December 1584.
1585	1594	Edmund Scambler	Translated from Peterborough. Elected on 15 December 1584 and confirmed on 15 January 1585. Died in office on 7 May 1594.
1594	1602	William Redman	Elected on 17 December 1594 and consecrated on 12 January 1595. Died in office on 25 September 1602.
1603	1618	John Jegon	Nominated on 10 January 1603 and consecrated on 20 February 1603. Died in office on 13 March 1618.
1618	1619	John Overall	Translated from Lichfield. Nominated on 9 May 1618 and confirmed on 30 September 1618. Died in office on 12 May 1619.
1619	1629	Samuel Harsnett	Translated from Chichester. Nominated on 1 June 1619 and confirmed on 28 August 1619. Translated to York on 13 January 1629.
1628	1631	Francis White	Translated from Carlisle. Elected on 22 January 1629 and confirmed on 9 February 1629. Translated to Ely on 8 December 1631.
1632	1635	Richard Corbet	Translated from Oxford. Elected on 7 April 1632 and confirmed on 7 May 1632. Died in office on 28 July 1635.
1635	1638	Matthew Wren	Translated from Hereford. Elected 10 November 1635 and confirmed on 5 December 1635. Translated to Ely on 24 April 1638.
1638	1641	Richard Montagu	Translated from Chichester. Nominated on 1 May 1638 and confirmed on 12 May 1638. Died in office on 13 April 1641.
1641	1646	Joseph Hall	Translated from Exeter. Elected on 15 November 1641 and confirmed on 16 December 1641. Deprived when the episcopate was abolished by Parliament on 9 October 1646. Died on 8 September 1656.
1646	1660	The see was abolished during the Commonwealth and the Protectorate.[14][15]
1661	1676	Edward Reynolds	Nominated on 30 September 1660 and consecrated on 13 January 1661. Died in office on 28 July 1676.
1676	1685	Anthony Sparrow	Translated from Exeter. Elected on 28 August 1676 and confirmed on 18 May 1676. Died in office on 18 May 1685.
1685	1690	William Lloyd	Translated from Peterborough. Elected on 11 June 1685 and confirmed on 4 July 1685. Deprived on 1 February 1690 and died on 1 January 1710.
1691	1707	John Moore	Nominated on 25 April 1691 and consecrated on 5 July 1691. Translated to Ely on 31 July 1707.
1708	1721	Charles Trimnell	Nominated on 13 January 1708 and consecrated on 8 February 1708. Translated to Winchester on 19 August 1721.
1721	1723	Thomas Green	Nominated on 19 August 1721 and consecrated on 8 October 1721. Translated to Ely on 24 September 1723.
1723	1727	John Leng	Nominated on 27 August 1723 and consecrated on 3 November 1723. Died in office on 26 October 1727.
1727	1732	William Baker	Translated from Bangor. Nominated on 2 November 1727 and confirmed on 19 December 1727. Died in office on 4 December 1732.
1733	1738	Robert Butts	Nominated on 17 January 1733 and consecrated on 25 February 1733. Translated to Ely on 27 June 1738.
1738	1748	Thomas Gooch	Translated from Bristol. Nominated on 29 August 1738 and confirmed on 17 October 1738. Translated to Ely on 11 March 1748.
1748	1749	Samuel Lisle	Translated from St Asaph. Nominated on 17 March 1748 and confirmed on 9 April 1748. Died in office on 3 October 1749.
1749	1761	Thomas Hayter	Nominated on 13 October 1749 and consecrated on 3 December 1749. Translated to London on 24 October 1761.
1761	1783	Philip Yonge	Translated from Bristol. Nominated on 27 October 1761 and confirmed on 25 November 1761. Died in office on 23 April 1783.
1783	1790	Lewis Bagot	Translated from Bristol. Nominated on 15 May 1783 and confirmed on 14 June 1783. Translated to St Asaph on 24 April 1790.
1790	1792	George Horne	Nominated on 7 May 1790 and consecrated on 6 June 1790. Died in office on 17 January 1792.
1792	1805	Charles Manners-Sutton	Nominated on 5 February 1792 and consecrated on 8 April 1792. Translated to Canterbury on 21 February 1805.
1805	1837	Henry Bathurst	Nominated on 5 March 1805 and consecrated on 28 April 1805. Died in office on 5 April 1837.
1837	1849	Edward Stanley	Nominated on 14 April 1837 and consecrated on 11 June 1837. Died in office on 6 September 1849.
1849	1857	Samuel Hinds	Nominated on 26 September 1849 and consecrated on 2 December 1849. Resigned in 1857 and died on 7 February 1872.
1857	1893	John Pelham	Nominated on 5 May 1857 and consecrated on 11 June 1857. Retired on 16 May 1893 and died on 1 May 1894.
1893	1910	John Sheepshanks	Nominated on 26 May 1893 and consecrated on 29 June 1893. Retired on 19 February 1910 and died on 3 June 1912.
1910	1942	Bertram Pollock	Nominated on 19 February 1910 and consecrated on 25 April 1910. Retired on 24 June 1942 and died on 17 October 1943.
1942	1959	Percy Herbert	Translated from Blackburn. Nominated on 1 July 1942 and confirmed on 22 July 1942. Retired on 25 July 1959 and died on 22 January 1968.
1959	1971	Launcelot Fleming	Translated from Portsmouth. Nominated on 23 October 1959 and confirmed on 18 December 1959. Resigned on 30 June 1971 and appointed Dean of Windsor (1971–1976). Died on 30 July 1990.
1971	1985	Maurice Wood	Nominated on 12 July 1971 and consecrated on 29 September 1971. Retired on 26 August 1985 and died on 24 June 2007.
1985	1999	Peter Nott	Translated from Taunton. Nominated and confirmed in 1985. Retired in 1999.
1999	2019	Graham James	Translated from St Germans. Nominated in 1999 and enthroned on 29 January 2000. Retired on 28 February 2019.[16]
2019	2019	Alan Winton, Bishop of Thetford	Acting bishop during vacancy in See
2019	present	Graham Usher	Translated from Dudley,[2] 17 June 2019.

Among those who have served the diocese as assistant bishops have been:

• 1450–1477: Thomas Scrope, absentee (or former) Bishop of Dromore and assistant Bishop of Canterbury in 1469.^[17] Consecrated 1 February 1450, by Angelo Capranica, Archbishop of Ascoli Piceno, at Santa Maria in Aquiro.^[18] Also called Thomas (de) Bradley for his Leicestershire birthplace; Carmelite friar; vicar-general to the bishop of Norwich; died 1491/2 — allegedly aged 100 — in Lowestoft, where he was buried.^[19]
• 1931 – 1951 (d.): Edwin Robins, Vicar of Wicklewood (until 1947) and former bishop of Athabasca^[20]
• 1953–1955: Wilfrid Belcher, Rector of Diss and former Bishop of North Queensland^[21]

When port wine is passed around at British meals, one tradition dictates that a diner passes the decanter to the left immediately after pouring a glass for his or her neighbour on the right; the decanter should not stop its clockwise progress around the table until it is finished. If someone is seen to have failed to follow tradition, the breach is brought to their attention by asking "Do you know the Bishop of Norwich?"; those aware of the tradition treat the question as a reminder, while those who do not are told "He's a terribly good chap, but he always forgets to pass the port."^[22][23]

It is unclear which, if any, Bishop of Norwich was the inspiration for this custom. Several candidates have been put forward but decisive contemporary evidence is wanting for all of them.

1) Lewis Bagot, who supposedly 'hogged' the port at a dinner at Christ's College, Cambridge. ^[24]

2) Henry Bathurst, who used to fall asleep during meals and hence was unable to pass the port. He was still bishop in his 90s. ^[25]

3) John Sheepshanks. He is sometimes put forward as a candidate but with even less justification than the other two. ^[26]

• Episcopal succession in Anglo-Saxon England