Senior ecclesiastical officer in the Church of England
Not to be confused with the archdeaconry of the
Diocese of Huron, Ontario.
The Archdeacon of London is a senior ecclesiastical officer in the
Church of England. They are responsible for the eastern Archdeaconry (the Archdeaconry of London) of the Two Cities (
London and
Westminster) in the
Diocese of London, an area without
area bishop and, rather, overseen by the diocesan
Bishop of London. The immediate western counterpart in this area is the Archdeacon(ry) of Charing Cross.
Since 1989, the churches of this supervisory cleric are the numerous remaining churches of the City of London. Those of the Archdeacon of Charing Cross are the relatively few churches, but much more heavily populated zone that is the City of Westminster.
History
Before the 20th century, the early medieval-founded London archdeaconry included parts of the
East End as well as the
City of London. The extent of the archdeaconry was reduced in 1912 (with the creation of the
Archdeaconry of Hampstead) and in 1951 (with the creation of the
Archdeaconry of Hackney) then latest boundary changes with the creation of the Archdeaconry of Charing Cross in 1989 saw the archdeaconry become coterminous with the limits of the
City of London.
Archdeacons of Charing Cross
This archdeaconry, comprising the
City of Westminster, was created shortly before Klyberg's appointment in June 1989.[1] The archdeacon serves directly under the
Bishop of London, who takes direct responsibility for the Two Cities area since there is no
area bishop.
On 16 June 2015, it was announced that from 1 January 2016 the Archdeacon of London would take responsibility for the whole Two Cities area; a part-time Associate Archdeacon would also work across both.[2] Lain-Priestley was thus collated to the Charing Cross archdeaconry,[3][4] and became known as the Archdeacon for the Two Cities.[5] Lain-Priestley resigned this on 31 December 2018 to become an Adviser to the Bishop of London.[6]
As Archdeacon of Charing Cross since 2020, Atkinson was archdeacon full-time;[7] in June 2023 it was announced that Atkinson was to become
Bishop of Bradwell (an
area bishop in the
Diocese of Chelmsford) from "autumn" 2023.[8] On 8 January 2024, it was announced that
Katherine Hedderly is to become Archdeacon of Charing Cross "after Easter".[9]
1 January 2016 – 31 December 2018 (res.):[6]Rosemary Lain-Priestley, Associate Archdeacon[2] / Archdeacon for the Two Cities[5] (working across both archdeaconries)
2017 – 2019:
Paul Thomas, Acting Archdeacon of Charing Cross[32]
^"New Bishop of Oswestry announced". Diocese of Lichfield. 2 December 2022. Retrieved 2 December 2022. Fr Paul (47) has been the Vicar of St James's Church in Paddington since 2011 and was Area Dean of Paddington from 2016 to 2021 as well as Acting Archdeacon of Charing Cross from 2017 to 2019.