The Archdeacons in the Diocese of Chelmsford are senior ecclesiastical officers in the Church of England in Essex and East London. They currently include: the Archdeacon of West Ham, the Archdeacon of Colchester and the archdeacons of Chelmsford, of Harlow, of Barking, of Stansted and of Southend. Each one has responsibility over a geographical area within the diocese.
History
When the diocese was created, it consisted of the ancient archdeaconries of Essex and Colchester. The first changes to the diocese's archdeaconries occurred on 17 March 1922 when the Archdeaconry of Southend was created from the old Essex archdeaconry and that old archdeaconry renamed to West Ham; West Ham archdeaconry was further split to create the Archdeaconry of Harlow following a 1989 decision of the Diocesan Synod.
As part of Stephen Cottrell's vision for the diocese's long-term future, consultations occurred on proposals to create three new archdeaconries. On 1 February 2013, by Pastoral Order of the Bishop of Chelmsford, the three archdeaconries were created: the new Archdeaconry of Stansted from Colchester archdeaconry, a new Archdeaconry of Barking from West Ham archdeaconry and a new Archdeaconry of Southend created from Southend archdeaconry after it had been renamed the Archdeaconry of Chelmsford. Initially, the Archdeacons of Colchester, of West Ham, and of Chelmsford were also Acting Archdeacons of Stansted, of Barking, and of Southend respectively.