Diocese of Exeter

The Diocese of Exeter is a Church of England diocese in the south of England. It covers the whole of Devon and is a constituent of the Province of Canterbury.

History
The Diocese of Crediton was created out of the ancient Saxon diocese of Sherborne in 909 to cover the area of Devon and Cornwall. Crediton was chosen as the site for its cathedral, possibly due it having been the birthplace of St Boniface and also the existence of a monastery there. . From 931 the diocese only covered Devon as Cornwall was under the jurisdiction of the Diocese of Cornwall, the bishop's seat being in St Germans. From 1027 the Bishops of Credition were also the Bishops of Cornwall.

In 1046 the Bishop of Crediton received papal permission to move the see to the larger, more culturally significant and defensible walled town of Exeter. In 1050 King Edward the Confessor authorised that the diocese be merged with the neighbouring Diocese of Cornwall and to be renamed the Diocese of Exeter.

The diocese then remained unchanged until 1876, when the former Archdeaconry of Cornwall became the independent Diocese of Truro.

Archdeaconries and deaneries
The diocese is divided into four archdeaconries:

The Bishop of Crediton oversees the Archdeaconries of Barnstaple and Exeter. The Bishop of Plymouth oversees the Archdeaconries of Plymouth and Totnes.


 * the Archdeaconry of Barnstaple which includes the Deaneries of Barnstaple, Hartland, Holsworthy, Shirwell, South Molton, and Torrington
 * the Archdeaconry of Exeter which includes the Deaneries of Aylesbeare, Cadbury, Christianity, Cullompton, Honiton, Kenn, Ottery, and Tiverton
 * the Archdeaconry of Plymouth which includes the Deaneries of Ivybridge, Devonport, Moorside, Sutton, and Tavistock
 * the Archdeaconry of Totnes which includes the Deaneries of Moreton, Newton Abbot and Ipplepen, Okehampton, Torbay, Totnes, and Woodleigh