The three Archdeacons in the Diocese of Derby are senior ecclesiastical officers in the
Church of EnglandDiocese of Derby. Each archdeacon has responsibility for church buildings and clergy discipline in her/his respective
archdeaconry.
History
The first mentions of an archdeacon in the area occurred in the twelfth century – around the time when archdeacons' posts were first being created across England. From that earliest point until the
Victorian reorganisations of church structures, the Archdeaconry of Derby was in the
Diocese of Lichfield (which during those seven centuries was called in turn Coventry, Coventry & Lichfield, Lichfield & Coventry, and Lichfield). The archdeaconry, at that point covering the whole county of Derby, was transferred by Order in Council to the new
Diocese of Southwell on 5 February 1884[1] and then split on 18 October 1910 — creating the Archdeaconry of Chesterfield — such that at its 2022 dissolution, Derby archdeaconry covered roughly the southern half of Derbyshire.[2] On 7 July 1927, the
Diocese of Derby was created from the two Southwell archdeaconries of Derby and of Chesterfield.[3]
In 2022, the Archdeaconries of Derby and of Chesterfield were dissolved in order to erect three new archdeaconries. At the point of their dissolution: the Archdeaconry of Derby was divided into the
deaneries of Derby City, Dove and Derwent, Mercia, and South East Derbyshire; and the Archdeaconry of Chesterfield, was divided into the deaneries of Carsington, Hardwick, North East Derbyshire, and Peak.[4]
1 September 2016 – 2018: Tony Kaunhoven (Acting)[26][27]
10 March 2018 – 6 June 2022:
Carol Coslett[28] (became first Archdeacon of Derbyshire Peak and Dales)
The Archdeaconry of Chesterfield was dissolved on 6 June 2022.
New archdeaconries
On 6 June 2022,
Libby Lane,
Bishop of Derby, dissolved the two existing Archdeaconries of Derby and of Chesterfield in order to erect three new Archdeaconries: of Derby City and South Derbyshire, of East Derbyshire, and of Derbyshire Peak and Dales.[29] On 12 June, she collated
Carol Coslett (hitherto Archdeacon of Chesterfield) as Archdeacon of Derbyshire Peak and Dales;
Matthew Trick as Archdeacon of Derby City and South Derbyshire; and
Karen Hamblin as Archdeacon of East Derbyshire.[30]
Coslett retired during February 2023;[31] her successor,
Nicky Fenton,[32] was collated on 30 September 2023.[33]
Notes
^Froger was a Norman in favour with
Henry II, who appointed him his
Almoner. Accordingly he occurs no earlier than 1155. In 1159, he was appointed
Bishop of Séez. "While yet Archdeacon of Derby he transmitted to the Abbey of Mortimer en Lions a copy of the Old Testament in two volumes."