Province Canterbury First incumbent Putta | Diocese Hereford Formation 676 | |
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Cathedral St Mary's and St Ethelbert's, Hereford | ||
The Bishop of Hereford is the ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Hereford in the Province of Canterbury.
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The episcopal see is centred in the City of Hereford where the bishop's seat (cathedra) is in the Cathedral Church of Saint Mary and Saint Ethelbert. The diocese was founded for the minor sub-kingdom of the Magonsæte in 676. It now covers the whole of the county of Herefordshire, southern Shropshire and a few parishes in Worcestershire, Powys and Monmouthshire. The arms of the see are gules, three leopard's faces reversed jessant-de-lys or, which were the personal arms of Bishop Thomas de Cantilupe (d.1282).
Until 1534 the Diocese of Hereford was in full communion with the Roman Catholic Church and two of its Bishops were canonised. During the English Reformation the bishops of England and Wales conformed to the independent Church of England under Henry VIII and Edward VI, but, under Mary I, they adhered to the Roman Catholic Church. Since the accession of Elizabeth I the diocese has again been part of the Church of England and Anglican Communion.
Richard Frith's election was confirmed on 17 October 2014 and he was installed as Bishop of Hereford on 22 November 2014 in Hereford Cathedral. The bishop's residence is The Palace, Hereford.
Meet the 105th bishop of hereford
List of bishops
Note: The chronology prior to 1056 is partly conjectural.