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The Bishop of Sherborne is an episcopal title which takes its name after the market town of Sherborne in Dorset, England. The title was first used by the Anglo-Saxons between the 8th and 11th centuries. It is now used by the Church of England for a suffragan bishop in the Diocese of Salisbury.

Diocesan Bishops of Sherborne[edit]

The Anglo-Saxon Diocese of Sherborne was established by Saint Aldhelm in about 705 and comprised the counties of Devon, Somerset, Dorset, and Cornwall. The diocese lost territory on the creation of the bishopric of Cornwall in the early 9th century, and lost further territory on the creation of the bishoprics of Wells and Crediton by Archbishop Plegmund in 909.

In 1058, the Sherborne chapter elected Bishop Herman of Ramsbury as their own bishop. He had previously complained of the poverty of his diocese to the extent that, when his plan to become abbot of Malmesbury was blocked by Earl Godwin in 1055, he had abandoned his duties and left to become a monk at St Bertin in France. Following the Norman conquest, the 1075 Council of London united his two sees as a single diocese and translated them to the then-larger settlement around the royal castle at Salisbury (Old Sarum). With papal approval, this was later removed to New Sarum (modern Salisbury) in the 1220s.

From Until Incumbent Notes

c. 705 709 Saint Aldhelm Also Abbot of Malmesbury.

709 737? Forthhere Also recorded as Fordhere. Possibly resigned the see in 737.

736 766 x 774 Herewald

766 x 774 789 x 794 Æthelmod

793 796 x 801 Denefrith

793 x 801 816 x 825 Wigberht Also recorded as Wigheorht.

816 x 825 867 Eahlstan Also recorded as Alfstan.

867 or 868 871 Saint Heahmund Also recorded as Saint Hamund.

871 x 877 879 x 889 Æthelheah

879 x 889 890 x 900 Wulfsige I

890 x 900 909 Asser Also recorded as John Asser or Asserius Menevensis.

c. 909 c. 909 Æthelweard

c. 909 918, or 909 x 925 Wærstan

918, or 909 x 925 918, or 909 x 925 Æthelbald

918, or 909 x 925 932 x 934 Sigehelm

932 x 934 939 x 943 Alfred

939 x 943 958 x 964 Wulfsige II

958 x 964 978 Ælfwold I

978 or 979 991 x 993 Æthelsige I

993? 1002 Wulfsige III Died in office on 8 January 1002.

1002 1011 or 1012 Æthelric

1011 or 1012 c. 1014 Æthelsige II

1014 x 1017 1014 x 1017 Brithwine I

1017 1023 Ælfmaer Abbot of St Augustine's Abbey, Canterbury. Died in office, possibly on 5 April 1023.

1023 1045 Brihtwine II Died in office, possibly on 2 June 1045.

1045 1058 Saint Ælfwold II Venerated as a saint with his Feast day on 25 March.

1058 1075 Herman Also Bishop of Ramsbury. Became the first Bishop of Salisbury when the sees of Sherborne and Ramsbury were transferred to Salisbury (Old Sarum) in 1075.

Source(s):[1][2]

Suffragan Bishops of Sherborne[edit]

Anglicanism portal

In 1925, the title Bishop of Sherborne was revived by the Church of England as a suffragan bishopric in the Diocese of Salisbury. From 1981 to 2009, the suffragan Bishop of Sherborne was responsible as area bishop for those parishes in Dorset and Devon belonging to the diocese.[3][4] Since 2009, the suffragan Bishop of Sherborne, along with the suffragan Bishop of Ramsbury, assists the diocesan Bishop of Salisbury in overseeing the whole of the diocese.[3]

The post became vacant in 2015 on the resignation of Graham Kings, who had been consecrated in a special service at Westminster Abbey on 24 June 2009 by Rowan Williams, Archbishop of Canterbury.[5][6]

List of Suffragan Bishops of Sherborne

From Until Incumbent Notes

1925 1927 Robert Abbott

1928 1936 Gerald Allen Translated to Dorchester.

1936 1947 Harold Rodgers

1947 1960 Maurice Key Translated to Truro.

1960 1976 Victor Pike

1976 2001 John Kirkham First area bishop from 1981; also Bishop to the Forces (1992–2001).

2001 2009 Tim Thornton Translated to Truro.

2009 15 July 2015 Graham Kings Last area bishop until 2009; resigned.[7]

2016 present Karen Gorham Consecrated 24 February 2016.[8]

Source(s):[9]