Archdeacon of Taunton

The Archdeacon of Taunton has been, since the twelfth century, the senior ecclesiastical officer in charge of the archdeaconry of Taunton in the Diocese of Bath and Wells (in the Church of England). The archdeaconry includes seven deaneries.

History

Three archdeacons were appointed in what was then the Diocese of Wells during the time at which archdeacons were first appointed across the Church of England, not long after the Norman Conquest in 1077. The earliest archdeacons of the Taunton area occur with the title "Archdeacon beyond the Parrett", until the title "Archdeacon of Taunton" occurs, around the time the diocese was renamed to Bath in 1090. That name persisted for around a century until the see was moved again in 1197 and became called the Diocese of Bath and Glastonbury; in 1219 the name was returned to Diocese of Bath. The diocese's name was finally settled at Bath and Wells and both the diocese's and the archdeaconry's names have remained stable for the 800 years since.

List of archdeacons

Some archdeacons without territorial titles are recorded from around 1086; see Archdeacon of Wells.

High Medieval

Archdeacons beyond the Parrett:

bef. 1142–aft. 1151: Hugh of Tournai
bef. 1174–aft. 1182: Richard
bef. 1186–bef. 1188: Ralph of Lechlade
bef. 1189–aft. 1195: Robert de Geldford

Archdeacons of Taunton:

bef. 1204–aft. 1217: William of Wrotham
bef. 1217–aft. 1217: Peter of Chichester
bef. 1221–aft. 1236: Hugh de Wilton
bef. 1241–18 December 1263 (d.): Walter of St Quentin
bef. 1282–aft. 1282: unnamed archdeacon
bef. 1294–aft. 1294: William Burnell, Dean of Wells
16 December 1298–aft. 1300: William de Molendino

Late Medieval

bef. 1302–aft. 1302: Peter de Averburi
bef. 1308–bef. 1320 (d.): Henry de Schavington
12 December 1320–bef. 1363 (d.): Robert Hereward
bef. 1364–aft. 1366: William Thingull
16 July 1370 – 1373 (res.): Thomas Arundel (became Bishop of Ely)
bef. 1373–aft. 1373: William Cardinal de Aigrefeuille (cardinal-priest of Santo Stefano al Monte Celio)
bef. 1383–1389 (res.): Piero Cardinal Tomacelli (cardinal-deacon of San Giorgio in Velabro; elected pope Boniface IX)
12 April 1390–bef. 1391: Thomas Marton
bef. 1391–aft. 1391: Ralph Erghum
bef. 1395–1 September 1416 (exch.): Thomas Polton
7 June 1395 – 1396 (res.): Thomas Sparkeford (royal grant; became Bishop of Waterford and Lismore)
24 May 1400: William Elleford (unsuccessful royal grant)
1 September 1416–bef. 1441 (d.): Nicholas Carlton
1 January 1441 – 1445 (res.): Adam Moleyns (became Bishop of Chichester)
13 February 1446 – 1450 (res.): Andrew Holes (became Archdeacon of Wells)
20 April 1450 – 1465 (res.): Robert Stillington (became Bishop of Bath and Wells)
bef. 1481–1490 (d.): Richard Langport
12 July 1490 – 1492 (res.): Oliver King (became Bishop of Exeter)
18 February 1493–bef. 1496 (res.): William Worsley^[1] (became Dean of St Paul's)
16 December 1496 – 1505 (res.): Robert Sherborne (became Bishop of St David's)
27 May 1505–bef. 1509 (res.): John Ednam
18 August 1509 – 1522/23 (d.): Robert Honiwood
bef. 1524–1525 (d.): John Monyns

bef. 1526–1531 (res.): Stephen Gardiner (became Bishop of Winchester)
?–February 1533 (res.): Thomas Cranmer (became Archbishop of Canterbury)
bef. 1533–1534 (res.): Rowland Lee (became Bishop of Coventry and Lichfield)
bef. 1535–aft. 1535: Richard Sampson
bef. 1540–aft. 1540: George Heneage
?–24 October 1541 (res.): John Dakyn
24 October 1541–bef. 1558 (d.): John Redman

Early modern

1551–1554 (res.): John White (became Bishop of Lincoln)
22 May 1554–bef. 1560 (deprived): John FitzJames (deprived)
1560–May 1584 (exch.): Justinian Lancaster
7 May 1584 – 28 October 1613 (d.): Philip Bisse
30 January 1587–?: Matthew Sutcliffe (probably ineffective; later Dean of Exeter)
15 November 1613 – 1615 (d.): Peter Lilly
1615–7 September 1643 (d.): Samuel Ward
19 December 1643 – 4 April 1682 (d.): William Piers
22 April 1682 – 8 June 1712 (d.): Edward Waple
25 July 1712 – 1726 (res.): Edmund Archer (became Archdeacon of Wells)
8 December 1726 – 15 December 1752 (d.): George Atwood
24 September 1753 – 1758 (res.): Lionel Seaman (became Archdeacon of Wells)
11 October 1758 – 1760 (res.): Francis Potter (became Archdeacon of Wells)
31 December 1760 – 1767 (res.): William Willes (became Archdeacon of Wells)
27 October 1767 – 17 August 1780 (d.): Thomas Camplin
19 September 1780 – 28 March 1817 (d.): John Turner
19 April 1817 – 13 October 1827 (d.): George Trevelyan
5 December 1827 – 10 September 1851 (d.): Anthony Hamilton
30 September 1851 – 21 March 1896 (d.): George Denison

Late modern

1896–5 June 1903 (d.): Alexander Ainslie^[2]
1903–9 April 1911 (d.): William Askwith, Vicar of St Mary Magdalene, Taunton^[3]
1911–1938 (ret.): Charles de Salis, Bishop suffragan of Taunton (until 1930) then assistant bishop^[4]
1938–1950 (ret.): Arnold Fitch, Rector of Angersleigh from 1946^[5]
1951–1971 (ret.): Geoffrey Hilder, Vicar of Hambridge until 1959^[6]
1971–1977 (ret.): Arthur Hopley (afterwards archdeacon emeritus)^[7]
1977–1992 (ret.): Leonard Olyott (afterwards archdeacon emeritus)^[8]
1992–1998 (res.): Richard Frith^[9]
1999–30 June 2016 (ret.):^[10] John Reed^[11]
23 June–1 October 2016 (acting): Andrew Tatham^[12]
1 October 2016–present: Simon Hill^[13]

References

^ Pollard, Albert Frederick. "William Worsley" in the Dictionary of National Biography, 1885–1900, Volume 63
^ "Ainslie, Alexander Colvin". Who's Who & Who Was Who. Vol. 1920–2015 (April 2014 online ed.). A & C Black. Retrieved 3 February 2015. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
^ "Askwith, William Henry". Who's Who & Who Was Who. Vol. 1920–2015 (April 2014 online ed.). A & C Black. Retrieved 3 February 2015. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
^ "de Salis, Charles Fane". Who's Who & Who Was Who. Vol. 1920–2015 (April 2014 online ed.). A & C Black. Retrieved 3 February 2015. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
^ "Fitch, Edward Arnold". Who's Who & Who Was Who. Vol. 1920–2015 (April 2014 online ed.). A & C Black. Retrieved 3 February 2015. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
^ "Hilder, Geoffrey Frank". Who's Who & Who Was Who. Vol. 1920–2015 (April 2014 online ed.). A & C Black. Retrieved 3 February 2015. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
^ "Hopley, Arthur". Who's Who & Who Was Who. Vol. 1920–2015 (April 2014 online ed.). A & C Black. Retrieved 3 February 2015. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
^ "Olyott, Leonard Eric". Who's Who & Who Was Who. Vol. 1920–2015 (April 2014 online ed.). A & C Black. Retrieved 3 February 2015. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
^ "Frith, Richard Michael Cokayne". Who's Who. Vol. 2015 (October 2014 online ed.). A & C Black. Retrieved 3 February 2015. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
^ Diocese of Bath and Wells — Archdeacon John Announces Retirement Archived 6 August 2016 at the Wayback Machine (Accessed 10 January 2016)
^ "Reed, John Peter Cyril". Who's Who. Vol. 2015 (October 2014 online ed.). A & C Black. Retrieved 3 February 2015. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
^ Diocese of Bath and Wells — Appointment: Andrew Tatham Archived 24 June 2016 at the Wayback Machine (Accessed 27 May 2016)
^ Diocese of Bath and Wells — New Archdeacon of Taunton Appointed Archived 10 May 2017 at the Wayback Machine (Accessed 17 June 2016)

Sources

Greenway, Diana E. (2001), Fasti Ecclesiae Anglicanae 1066–1300, vol. 7, pp. 35–38
Jones, B. (1964), Fasti Ecclesiae Anglicanae 1300–1541, vol. 8, pp. 16–17
Horn, Joyce M. (1979), Fasti Ecclesiae Anglicanae 1541–1857, vol. 5, pp. 16–18

Archdeacons of Taunton

High Medieval

Archdeacons beyond the Parrett	Hugh of Tournai Richard Ralph of Lechlade Robert de Geldford
Archdeacons of Taunton	William of Wrotham Peter of Chichester Hugh de Wilton Walter of St Quentin William Burnell William de Molendino

Late Medieval

Peter de Averburi
Henry de Schavington
Robert Hereward
William Thingull
Thomas Arundel
William Cardinal de Aigrefeuille
Piero Cardinal Tomacelli
Thomas Marton
Ralph Erghum
Thomas Polton
Thomas Sparkeford
William Elleford
Nicholas Carlton
Adam Moleyns
Andrew Holes
Robert Stillington
Richard Langport
Oliver King
William Worsley
Robert Sherborne
John Ednam
Robert Honiwood
John Monyns
Stephen Gardiner
Thomas Cranmer
Rowland Lee
Richard Sampson
George Heneage
John Dakyn
John Redman

Early modern

John White
John FitzJames
Justinian Lancaster
Philip Bisse
Matthew Sutcliffe
Peter Lilly
Samuel Ward
William Piers
Edward Waple
Edmund Archer
George Atwood
Lionel Seaman
Francis Potter
William Willes
Thomas Camplin
John Turner
George Trevelyan
Anthony Hamilton
George Denison

Late modern

v t e Diocese of Bath and Wells
Wells Cathedral Bishop's Palace, Wells Bath Abbey Glastonbury Abbey (ruins)
Office holders	Michael Beasley, Bishop of Bath and Wells Ruth Worsley, Bishop suffragan of Taunton and Acting Bishop of Coventry AEO: Paul Thomas, Bishop suffragan of Oswestry & Rob Munro, Bishop suffragan of Ebbsfleet Dean of Wells (vacant) Simon Hill, Archdeacon of Taunton Anne Gell, Archdeacon of Wells Adrian Youings, Archdeacon of Bath
Historic offices	For the Bishops of Wells (10th century–1090), Bishops of Bath (1090–1197 & 1219–1245) and Bishops of Bath and Glastonbury (1197–1219), see Bishop of Bath and Wells
Benefices and parishes	List of ecclesiastical parishes in the Diocese of Bath and Wells

Archdeacons in the Church of England

Current

northern province	Auckland Blackburn Bolton Bradford Carlisle Chester Cleveland Doncaster Durham East Riding (York) Halifax Lancaster Leeds Lindisfarne Liverpool Knowsley and Sefton Macclesfield Man Manchester Newark Nottingham Northumberland Pontefract Richmond and Craven Rochdale St Helens and Warrington Salford Sheffield and Rotherham Stoke Sunderland Walsall West Cumberland Westmorland and Furness Wigan and West Lancashire York (West Riding)
southern province	Ashford Aston Barnstaple Barking Bath Bedford Berkshire Birmingham Bodmin Boston Bournemouth Brighton & Lewes Bristol Bromley & Bexley Buckingham Cambridge Canterbury Chelmsford Charing Cross ("Two Cities") Cheltenham Chichester Colchester Cornwall Coventry ("Archdeacon Pastor") Croydon Derby City and South Derbyshire Derbyshire Peak and Dales Dorchester Dorking Dorset Dudley East Derbyshire Eastern Archdeaconry (Europe) Exeter France Germany and Northern Europe Gibraltar Gloucester Hackney Hampstead Harlow Hastings Hereford Hertford Horsham Huntingdon and Wisbech Ipswich Isle of Wight Italy and Malta Lambeth Leicester Lewisham & Greenwich Lichfield Lincoln London Loughborough Ludlow Lynn Maidstone Malmesbury The Meon Middlesex Norfolk North West Europe Northampton Northolt Norwich Oakham Oxford Plymouth Portsdown Reigate Rochester St Albans Salop/Shropshire (Lichfield diocese) Sarum Sherborne Southend Southwark Stansted Stow and Lindsey Sudbury Suffolk Surrey Switzerland Taunton Tonbridge Totnes Wandsworth Warwick ("Archdeacon Missioner") Wells West Ham Westminster Wilts Winchester Worcester
non-territorial	Military archdeacons: Royal Navy, Army, Royal Air Force Prison Service "Archdeacon Missioner" (see Warwick) & "Archdeacon Pastor" (see Coventry) Rural Mission (Eds & Ips diocese)