Archdeacon of Rochester

The Archdeacon of Rochester is a senior office-holder in the Diocese of Rochester (a division of the Church of England Province of Canterbury.) Like other archdeacons, she or he is an administrator in the diocese at large (having oversight of parishes in roughly one-third of the diocese.) The present incumbent is the Ven Simon Burton-Jones.

History

The first Archdeacon of Rochester is recorded c. 1096, at approximately the same sort of time as archdeacons were being appointed across the country. At this point, this archdeacon was the sole archdeacon in the diocese, functioning as an assistant to the bishop. The archidiaconal and diocesan boundaries remained similar for almost 750 years until 1 January 1846 when the three archdeaconries of Colchester, of Essex and of St Albans from the Diocese of London were added to the diocese – at this point, the diocese covered all of Essex, Hertfordshire and west Kent. Those three archdeaconries created the new Diocese of St Albans in 1877, but the diocese received part of Surrey (which was constituted into the Southwark archdeaconry the next year) a few months later: in 1879 the Kingston archdeaconry was split off from Southwark; those two archdeaconries were erected into the Diocese of Southwark in 1905 – immediately prior to that date the Diocese of Rochester covered a large portion of Surrey (now southern Greater London) immediately south of the Thames plus west Kent. Once again, Rochester was the sole archdeaconry of the diocese until it was split to create the Archdeaconry of Tonbridge in 1906; it was further split in 1955 to create the Archdeaconry of Bromley, so that there are today three archdeaconries in the present diocese, covering West Kent plus the two London Boroughs of Bromley and Bexley – an area broadly similar to that covered until 1846.

List of archdeacons

High Medieval

c.1134 Robert Pullen
?-1489 Henry Sharp

Late Medieval

?-1512 Henry Edyall
1512-1537 Nicholas Metcalfe
1537-1554 Maurice Griffith

Early modern

1554-1560 John Kennall
1560-1571 John Bridgewater
1571-1576 John Calverley
1576-1593 Ralph Pickover
1593-1606 Thomas Staller
1606-1614 Thomas Sanderson
1614-1624 Richard Tillesley
1625-1652 Elizeus Burgess
1660-1679 John Lee
1679-1704 Thomas Plume
1704-1720 Thomas Sprat
1720-1728 Henry Bridges
1728 William Bradford
1728-1767 John Denne
1767-1827 John Law
1827-1859 Walker King

Late modern

1860-1882 Anthony Grant
1882-1908 Samuel Cheetham
1908-1915 John Tetley-Rowe
1915-32 Donald Tait
1933-51 Walter Browne
1951-1969 Lawrence Harland
1969-1976 David Stewart-Smith
1977-83 Derek Palmer
1984-1988 Michael Turnbull
1989-2000 Norman Warren
2001-2009 Peter Lock
24 January 2010–present Simon Burton-Jones

References

Sources

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v t e Archdeacons of Rochester
High Medieval	Ansketil Hervey/Herwis Robert Pullen Paris William son of Peter William de Sancto Martino John de Sancto Dionysio Roger de Weseham
Late Medieval	Pierre Desprès William de le Dene William Reed William Wyvel of Wenlock Roger William de Navesby Roger de Denford Thomas Halle William Hunden William Purcell Richard Cordon/Brouns John Lowe Roger Rotherham Henry Sharp Henry Edyall Nicholas Metcalfe Maurice Griffith
Early modern	John Kennall John Bridgewater John Calverley Ralph Pickover Thomas Staller Thomas Sanderson Richard Tillesley Elizeus Burgess John Lee Thomas Plume Thomas Sprat Henry Bridges William Bradford John Denne John Law Walker King
Late modern	suppressed Anthony Grant, Archdeacon of St Albans Samuel Cheetham Tetley Rowe Donald Tait Walter Browne Lawrence Harland David Stewart-Smith Derek Palmer Michael Turnbull Norman Warren Peter Lock Simon Burton-Jones Andy Wooding Jones

v t e Diocese of Rochester
Rochester Cathedral Bishopscourt, Rochester Diocesan Office, Rochester
Office holders	Jonathan Gibbs, Bishop of Rochester Simon Burton-Jones, Bishop suffragan of Tonbridge AEO: Bishop suffragan of Richborough (vacant) & Rob Munro, Bishop suffragan of Ebbsfleet Philip Hesketh, Dean of Rochester Andy Wooding Jones, Archdeacon of Rochester Sharon Copestake, Archdeacon of Tonbridge Allie Kerr, Archdeacon of Bromley and Bexley
Historic offices	Bishop suffragan of Southwark (1891–1905; diocesan see created) Archdeacon of Colchester; Archdeacon of Essex (1846–1877; moved to St Albans then Chelmsford) Archdeacon of St Albans (1846–1877; moved to St Albans) Archdeacon of Southwark; Archdeacon of Kingston (1878/9–1905; became Diocese of Southwark)