Diocese of Rochester

The Diocese of Rochester forms part of the Province of Canterbury of the Church of England. It is an ancient diocese, having been established in 604; only the neighbouring Diocese of Canterbury is older in the Church of England.

The current diocesan boundaries roughly match its pre-19th century extent. In 1845 the Hertfordshire territory of the Diocese of Lincoln was added to Rochester, followed in 1846 by Essex from the Diocese of London. In 1877 Essex and Hertfordshire became the new Diocese of St Albans. It also gained part of the Diocese of Winchester, in northern Surrey, which became an independent Diocese of Southwark in 1905.

The area of the diocese incorporates:
 * the western part of the county of Kent
 * the London Borough of Bexley
 * the London Borough of Bromley

The diocese is divided into three Archdeaconries containing a total of seventeen deaneries:
 * the Archdeaconry of Bromley & Bexley
 * comprises the Deaneries of Beckenham, Bromley, Orpington, Erith and Sidcup
 * the Archdeaconry of Rochester
 * comprises the Deaneries of Cobham, Dartford, Gillingham, Gravesend, Rochester and Strood
 * the Archdeaconry of Tonbridge
 * comprises the Deaneries of Malling, Paddock Wood, Sevenoaks, Shoreham, Tonbridge and Tunbridge Wells.