Archdeacon of Leicester

The Archdeacon of Leicester is a senior ecclesiastical officer in the Church of England Diocese of Leicester.

History

The first archdeacon of Leicester is recorded before 1092 – around the time when archdeacons were first appointed in England – in the Diocese of Lincoln. He was one of eight archdeacons appointed by the bishop: Lincoln, Huntingdon, Northampton, Oxford, Buckingham, Bedford and Stow.

In the Victorian era reforms, the archdeaconry became part of Peterborough diocese on 1 May 1839 and, on 12 November 1926, the modern Diocese of Leicester was founded from Leicester and Loughborough archdeaconries and part of the archdeaconry of Northampton.

List of archdeacons

High Medieval

• bef. 1092–?: Ranulph (first Archdeacon of Leicester)
• Godfrey
• bef. c. 1129–aft. c. 1134: Walter
• bef. c. 1146–1148 (res.): Robert de Chesney
• bef. 1150–bef. 1159 (res.): Hugh Barre
• bef. 1163–aft. 1177: Baldric de Segillo
• c. 1187–1189 (res.): Hamo (afterwards Dean of Lincoln)
• bef. c. 1194–1195 (res.): Roger de Rolleston (afterwards Dean of Lincoln)
• bef. c. 1198–aft. 1224: Reimund
• bef. 1226–aft. 1228: William Blund of Lincoln
• bef. 1229–1232 (res.): Robert Grosseteste
• 1232–1234: William de Dratton
• bef. 1235–1252 (d.): John of Basingstoke
• 1252–bef. 1274: Solomon of Dover
• 1275–bef. 1295 (d.): Roger de Saxenhurst
• 16 January 1295 – 16 September 1310 (d.): Roger Martival

Late Medieval

• 13 October 1310 – 5 October 1346 (d.): Guillaume Cardinal de Farges (cardinal-deacon of Santa Maria Nova)
• 1346–26 February 1347 (res.): Raynald Orsini
• Arnald de Gavarreto was unsuccessfully provided to the archdeaconry in 1347 and was still claiming it – unsuccessfully – in 1355.
• 1347–bef. 1354 (d.): Henry Chaddesden
• 12 May 1354 – 1361 (d.): William Doune
• bef. 1371–27 August 1372 (d.): Philippe Cardinal de Cabassoles (Cardinal-Bishop of Sabina and Archdeacon of York)
• 1372–13 August 1379 (d.): Giacomo Cardinal Orsini, Dean of Salisbury (cardinal-deacon of San Giorgio in Velabro)
• 1380–2 February 1395 (d.): Poncello Orsini (cardinal-priest of San Clemente; papal claimant, never in actual possession)
• 1390–c. 1390 (res.): John Bottlesham (royal grant)
• 4 August 1392–bef. 1421: John Elvet
• 1392–1392 (rev.): Richard Holland (mistaken royal grant; revoked)
• bef. 1414–1424 (exch.): Richard Elvet
• 29 October 1424–bef. 1430: John Legbourne
• bef. 1430–aft. 1431: Thomas Barnsley
• 14 August 1454 – 1458 (res.): Richard Ewen (afterwards Archdeacon of Lincoln)
• 1458–bef. 1473 (d.): William Witham (also Dean of Arches from 1460 and Dean of Wells from 1467)
• 1473–bef. 1478: Roger Rotherham
• 1478–1479 (res.): John Morton
• 1485–bef. 1508 (d.): Richard Lavender
• 18 March 1508–bef. 1515: William Spark
• 1515–bef. 1518: Henry Wilcocks
• 1518–bef. 1531 (d.): Richard Maudeley

• 25 March 1531–December 1531 (res.): Stephen Gardiner
• 14 December 1531 – 1535 (res.): Edward Foxe
• 9 October 1535 – 1539 (res.): Edmund Bonner
• 24 September 1539–bef. 1541 (d.): William More, Bishop suffragan of Colchester

Early modern

• 19 February 1541–bef. 1560 (deprived): Thomas Robertson (deprived; also Dean of Durham from 1558, from which point archdeacon in commendam)
• 1560–15 February 1589 (d.): Richard Barber
• 10 May 1589 – 16 September 1590 (res.): Hugh Blythe
• 19 April 1591–bef. 1625 (d.): Robert Johnson
• 1 August 1625–bef. 1631 (d.): Richard Pilkington
• 21 September 1631–bef. 1641 (d.): William Warr
• 16 October 1641 – 1661 (res.): Henry Ferne
• 18 June 1661 – 27 June 1662 (exch.): Robert Hitch (afterwards Archdeacon of the East Riding, 1662 and Dean of York, 1665)
• 27 June 1662–bef. 1669 (d.): Clement Breton
• 30 July 1669 – 23 August 1679 (d.): William Owtram
• 10 September 1679 – 27 August 1683 (d.): Francis Meres
• 5 September 1683–bef. 1703 (d.): Byrom Eaton
• 1703–9 May 1715 (d.): John Rogers
• 17 May 1715 – 18 May 1756 (d.): David Trimnel
• 7 July 1756 – 29 August 1772 (d.): John Taylor
• 17 December 1772 – 23 December 1785 (d.): James Bickham
• 25 January 1786 – 9 March 1812 (d.): Andrew Burnaby
• 31 March 1812 – 13 November 1830 (d.): Thomas Parkinson
• 22 January 1831 – 7 April 1863 (d.): Thomas Bonney

Upon the death of Herbert Marsh on 1 May 1839, Leicester archdeaconry become part of the Diocese of Peterborough.

Late modern

• 1863–1884 (ret.): Henry Fearon
• 1884–1886 (d.): Assheton Pownall
• 1886–1899 (ret.): John Mitchinson (former Bishop of Barbados then of the Windward Islands)
• 1899–1920 (ret.): John Stocks
• 1921–1938 (ret.): Frederick MacNutt

From 12 November 1926, the archdeaconry formed part of the new Leicester diocese.

• 1938–1956 (ret.): Cecil Matthews (afterwards archdeacon emeritus)
• 1956–1963 (res.): Irven Edwards
• 1963–1980 (ret.): Berkeley Cole (afterwards archdeacon emeritus)
• 1980–1994 (res.): David Silk
• 1994–2002 (res.): Mike Edson
• 2002–April 2012 (res.): Richard Atkinson
• 2012 – 8 September 2018 (res.): Tim Stratford (became Dean of Chester)
• 4 November 2018 – 2025 (res.): Richard Worsfold (resigned to become Area Dean of Salford and Leigh, 23 September 2025)
• 2 October 2025 – present: Richard Trethewey