Bishop of Oxford

The Anglican Diocese of Oxford covers the counties of Oxfordshire, Berkshire, and Buckinghamshire, with parishes also in Bedfordshire, Gloucestershire, Hampshire, Hertfordshire, and Warwickshire.

The origins of Christianity in this part of England go back at least to the 7th century, when Saint Birinus brought his mission to the West Saxons in 634. The West Saxon King Cynegils was baptised in the River Thames near the present site of Dorchester Abbey, where the original See was established.

The See was later transferred to Winchester, before being absorbed into the Diocese of Lincoln, the vast area of which covered much of central and eastern England from the Thames to the Humber.

The present diocese of Oxford was created by Henry VIII in 1542, out of the Diocese of Lincoln. Its cathedral is also the chapel of Christ Church, Oxford, a situation unique among English dioceses. The diocese of Oxford has the most parishes of any diocese on England (621) and also the most church buildings (815), of which 475 are grade 1 or 2* listed buildings.

Bishops of Oxford

• Robert King, Suffragan of Lincoln, 1542
• Thomas Goldwell, Bishop of St Asaph, 1558 Fled to Milan and Rome, 1559
• See vacant 9 years
• Hugh Coren or Curwen, Archbishop of Dublin, 1567
• See vacant 21 years
• John Underhill, Rector of Lincoln College, 1589
• See vacant 11 years
• John Bridges, Dean of Salisbury, 1604
• John Howson, Student of Christ Church, 1619
• Richard Corbet, Dean of Christ Church, 1628
• John Bancroft, Master of University College, 1632
• Robert Skinner, Bishop of Bristol, 1641 (Deprived during the Commonwealth, but restored 1660)
• William Paul, Dean of Lichfield, 1663
• Walter Blandford, Warden of Wadham College, 1665
• Nathaniel, Lord Crewe, Rector of Lincoln and Dean of Chichester1671
• Henry Compton, Canon of Christ Church, 1674
• John Fell, Dean of Christ Church, 1676
• Samuel Parker, Archdeacon of Canterbury, 1686
• Timothy Hall (denied installation by the Chapter of Christ Church), 1688
• John Hough, President of Magdalen College, 1690
• William Talbot, Dean of Worcester, 1699
• John Potter, Regius Professor of Divinity, 1715
• Thomas Secker, Bishop of Bristol, 1737
• John Hume, Bishop of Bristol, 1758
• Robert Louth, Bishop of St David's, 1766
• John Butler, Prebendary of Winchester, 1777
• Edward Smallwell, Bishop of St David's, 1788
• John Randolph, Regius Professor of Divinity, 1799
• Charles Moss, 1807
• William Jackson, Regius Professor of Greek, 1812
• Hon. Edward Legge, Dean of Windsor, 1816
• Charles Lloyd, Regius Professor of Divinity, 1827
• Richard Bagot, Dean of Canterbury, 1829
• Samuel Wilberforce, Dean of Westminster, 1845
• John Fielder Mackarness, Prebendary of Exeter, 1870
• William Stubbs, Bishop of Chester, 1889
• Francis Paget, Dean of Christ Church, 1901
• Charles Gore, Bishop of Birmingham (resigned See of Oxford 1919), 1911
• Hubert Murray Burge, Bishop of Southwark, 1919
• Thomas Banks Strong, Bishop of Ripon (resigned See of Oxford 1937), 1925
• Kenneth Escott Kirk, Regius Professor of Moral and Pastoral Theology, 1937
• Harry James Carpenter, Warden of Keble (resigned See of Oxford 1970), 1955
• Kenneth John Woollcombe, Principal of Edinburgh Theological College (resigned See of Oxford 1978), 1971
• Patrick Campbell Rodger, Bishop of Manchester (resigned See of Oxford 1986), 1978
• Richard Douglas Harries, Dean of King's College, London, 1987

Source: Year Book