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Bishop of Exeter
 
 
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The Bishop
Bishop

A bishop is an ordination or consecration member of the Clergy#Christian clergy who is generally entrusted with a position of authority and oversight....
 of Exeter
Exeter

Exeter Exeter was the most south-westerly Roman fortified settlement in Roman Britain and has existed since time immemorial. Exeter Cathedral, founded in 1050 is Anglicanism....
 is the Ordinary
Ordinary

In those hierarchically organised churches of Western Christianity which have an ecclesiastical law system, an ordinary is an officer of the church who by reason of office has ordinary power to executive the church's laws....
 of the Church of England
Church of England

The Church of England is the State religion Christianity Ecclesia in England, the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the oldest among the communion's thirty-eight independent national and regional churches....
 Diocese of Exeter
Diocese of Exeter

The Diocese of Exeter is a Church of England diocese covering Devon, and is one of the largest in England. The Exeter Cathedral is the seat of the diocesan bishop, the Right Reverend Michael Langrish DD, Bishop of Exeter....
 in the Province of Canterbury
Province of Canterbury

The Province of Canterbury, also called the Southern Province, is one of two ecclesiastical provinces making up the Church of England. It consists of 30 dioceses, covering roughly the southern two-thirds of England, along with the Channel Islands, the Falkland Islands, a few parishes in Wales, and the mainland of Europe....
. The incumbent usually signs his name as Exon
Exoniensis

Exoniensis is the post-nominal letters suffix given to honorary degree and academic degrees from the University of Exeter. The term is the anglicisation of the Latin for "of Exeter"....
 or incorporates this in his signature.

history of Christianity in the South West of England
England

native_name =|conventional_long_name = England|common_name = England|image_flag = Flag of England.svg|image_coat = England COA.svg|symbol_type = Royal Coat of Arms...
 remains to some degree obscure. At a certain point the historical county of Devon formed part of the diocese of Wessex. About 703 Devon and Cornwall were formed into the separate diocese of Sherborne and in 900 this was again divided into two, the Devon bishop having from 905 his seat at Tawton (now Bishop's Tawton
Bishop's Tawton

Bishop's Tawton is a village and civil parish in the North Devon district of Devon, England. It is in the valley of the River Taw, about three miles south of Barnstaple....
) and from 912 at Crediton
Crediton

Crediton is a town in the Mid Devon district of Devon, England. It stands on the A377 road Exeter to Barnstaple road at the junction with the A3072 road road to Tiverton, Devon, about north west of Exeter....
, birthplace of St Boniface.






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The Bishop
Bishop

A bishop is an ordination or consecration member of the Clergy#Christian clergy who is generally entrusted with a position of authority and oversight....
 of Exeter
Exeter

Exeter Exeter was the most south-westerly Roman fortified settlement in Roman Britain and has existed since time immemorial. Exeter Cathedral, founded in 1050 is Anglicanism....
 is the Ordinary
Ordinary

In those hierarchically organised churches of Western Christianity which have an ecclesiastical law system, an ordinary is an officer of the church who by reason of office has ordinary power to executive the church's laws....
 of the Church of England
Church of England

The Church of England is the State religion Christianity Ecclesia in England, the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the oldest among the communion's thirty-eight independent national and regional churches....
 Diocese of Exeter
Diocese of Exeter

The Diocese of Exeter is a Church of England diocese covering Devon, and is one of the largest in England. The Exeter Cathedral is the seat of the diocesan bishop, the Right Reverend Michael Langrish DD, Bishop of Exeter....
 in the Province of Canterbury
Province of Canterbury

The Province of Canterbury, also called the Southern Province, is one of two ecclesiastical provinces making up the Church of England. It consists of 30 dioceses, covering roughly the southern two-thirds of England, along with the Channel Islands, the Falkland Islands, a few parishes in Wales, and the mainland of Europe....
. The incumbent usually signs his name as Exon
Exoniensis

Exoniensis is the post-nominal letters suffix given to honorary degree and academic degrees from the University of Exeter. The term is the anglicisation of the Latin for "of Exeter"....
 or incorporates this in his signature.

History

The history of Christianity in the South West of England
England

native_name =|conventional_long_name = England|common_name = England|image_flag = Flag of England.svg|image_coat = England COA.svg|symbol_type = Royal Coat of Arms...
 remains to some degree obscure. At a certain point the historical county of Devon formed part of the diocese of Wessex. About 703 Devon and Cornwall were formed into the separate diocese of Sherborne and in 900 this was again divided into two, the Devon bishop having from 905 his seat at Tawton (now Bishop's Tawton
Bishop's Tawton

Bishop's Tawton is a village and civil parish in the North Devon district of Devon, England. It is in the valley of the River Taw, about three miles south of Barnstaple....
) and from 912 at Crediton
Crediton

Crediton is a town in the Mid Devon district of Devon, England. It stands on the A377 road Exeter to Barnstaple road at the junction with the A3072 road road to Tiverton, Devon, about north west of Exeter....
, birthplace of St Boniface. Lyfing became Bishop of Crediton
Bishop of Crediton

The Bishop of Crediton was originally a prelate who administered an Anglo-Saxons diocese in the 10th and 11th centuries, and is presently a suffragan bishop who assists a diocesan bishop....
 in 1027 and shortly afterwards became Bishop of Cornwall
Bishop of Cornwall

The Dioceseric of Cornwall was created in about 833 AD. The later Bishops of Cornwall were sometimes referred to as the Bishop of St Germans. In 1050, Cornwall was merged with the Bishop of Crediton and the Episcopal see was transferred to Diocese of Exeter....
.

The two dioceses of Crediton and Cornwall, covering Devon and Cornwall, were permanently united under Edward the Confessor
Edward the Confessor

Saint Edward the Confessor , son of Ethelred the Unready and Emma of Normandy, was the penultimate Anglo-Saxons List of the monarchs of the Kingdom of England and the last of the House of Wessex, ruling from 1042 until his death....
 by Lyfing's successor Bishop Leofric
Leofric, Bishop of Exeter

Leofric was a medieval Bishop of Exeter....
, hitherto Bishop of Crediton, who became first Bishop of Exeter under Edward the Confessor
Edward the Confessor

Saint Edward the Confessor , son of Ethelred the Unready and Emma of Normandy, was the penultimate Anglo-Saxons List of the monarchs of the Kingdom of England and the last of the House of Wessex, ruling from 1042 until his death....
, which was established as his cathedral city in 1050. At first the abbey church of St Mary and St Peter, founded by Athelstan in 932 and rebuilt in 1019, served as the cathedral.

The present cathedral was begun by Bishop William de Warelhurst in 1112, the transept towers he built being the only surviving part of the Norman building, which was completed by Bishop Marshall at the close of the twelfth century.

As it now stands, the cathedral is in the decorated style. It was begun by Bishop Quivil (1280-1291), continued by Bishops Bytton and Stapeldon, and completed, much as it has since remained, by Bishop Grandisson during his long pontificate of 42 years.

In many respects Exeter cathedral resembles those of France rather than others found in England. Its special features are the transept towers and the choir, containing much early stained glass. There is also an episcopal throne, separated from the nave by a choir screen (1324) and a stately West front. In a comparison with certain other English cathedrals, it is perhaps disadvantaged by the absence of a central tower and a general lack of elevation, but it is undoubtedly very fine.

The bishops of Exeter, like the general population of the diocese, always enjoyed considerable independence, and the see was one of the largest and richest in England. The remoteness of the see from London prevented it from being bestowed on statesmen or courtiers, so that over the centuries the roll of bishops possessed more capable scholars and administrators than in many other sees. The result was a long and stable line of bishops, leading to active Christian observance in the area.

The diocese contained 604 parishes grouped in four archdeaconries: Cornwall, Barnstaple, Exeter, and Totton. There were Benedictine, Augustinian, Premonstratensian, Franciscan and Dominican houses, and four Cistercian abbeys. The cathedral was dedicated to St Peter.

This wealthy diocese was forced to cede land during the reign of Henry VIII, when Bishop Vesey was obliged to surrender fourteen out of twenty-two manors, and the value of the see was reduced to a third of what it formerly was. Vesey, despite his Catholic sympathies, held the see until 1551, when he finally had to resign, and was replaced by the Bible translator Miles Coverdale.

Following the accession of Mary, in 1553, Vesey was restored, but died soon after in 1554. He was succeeded by James Turberville, the last Catholic Bishop of Exeter. Turberville was removed from the see by the Protestant Elizabeth I
Elizabeth I of England

Elizabeth I was List of English monarchs and Queen of Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death. Sometimes called The Virgin Queen, Gloriana, or Good Queen Bess, Elizabeth was the fifth and last monarch of the House of Tudor....
 in 1559, and died in prison, probably in or about 1570.

Henry Phillpotts
Henry Phillpotts

Henry Phillpotts , Bishop of Exeter or "Henry of Exeter," as he was often called, was England's longest serving bishop since the 12th century, , one of the most striking figures in the Church of England of the 19th century and one of the last of the pre-Reform bishops....
 served as Lord Bishop of Exeter from 1830 to his death in office in 1869. He was England's longest serving bishop since the 12th century

The diocese was divided in 1876 along the Devon-Cornwall border, creating the Diocese of Truro
Diocese of Truro

The Diocese of Truro forms part of the Province of Canterbury in England....
 (but five parishes which were at the time in Devon were included in this diocese as they had always been within the Archdeaconry of Cornwall).

Today

The diocese covers the County of Devon
Devon

Devon is a large Counties of England in South West England. The county is also referred to as Devonshire, but that is an entirely unofficial name, rarely used inside of the county but often indicating a shire....
. The see
Episcopal See

An episcopal see is, in the original sense, the official seat of a bishop. This seat, which is also referred to the bishop's cathedra, is placed in the bishop's principal church, which is therefore called the bishop's cathedral....
 is in the City of Exeter
Exeter

Exeter Exeter was the most south-westerly Roman fortified settlement in Roman Britain and has existed since time immemorial. Exeter Cathedral, founded in 1050 is Anglicanism....
 where the seat is located at the Cathedral Church of Saint Peter
Exeter Cathedral

Exeter Cathedral, full name Cathedral Church of Saint Peter, is an Anglican cathedral in the city status in the United Kingdom of Exeter, Devon, in the South West England of England and the seat of the bishop of Exeter....
 which was founded as an abbey possibly before 690.

The current bishop is the Right Reverend Michael Laurence Langrish, the 70th Lord Bishop of Exeter, who signs Michael Exon.

See also

  • List of Bishops of Exeter
  • Bishop of Crediton
    Bishop of Crediton

    The Bishop of Crediton was originally a prelate who administered an Anglo-Saxons diocese in the 10th and 11th centuries, and is presently a suffragan bishop who assists a diocesan bishop....
  • Bishop of Cornwall
    Bishop of Cornwall

    The Dioceseric of Cornwall was created in about 833 AD. The later Bishops of Cornwall were sometimes referred to as the Bishop of St Germans. In 1050, Cornwall was merged with the Bishop of Crediton and the Episcopal see was transferred to Diocese of Exeter....


Sources

  • Some text adapted from Catholic Encyclopaedia, 1908.