Diocese of Lincoln

The Diocese of Lincoln forms part of the Province of Canterbury of the Church of England.

History
The diocese traces its roots in an unbroken line to the Diocese of Lindine (or Lindsey) founded in 678. The see of Lindsey was united with that of Dorchester in the early 11th century. The diocese was then the largest in England, extending from the River Thames to the Humber Estuary. In 1072 the see was moved to Lincoln, although the Bishops of Lincoln retained significant landholdings within Oxfordshire. Because of this historic link, for a long time Banbury remained a peculier of the Bishop of Lincoln.

The Dioceses of Oxford and Peterborough were created in 1541 out of parts of the diocese, which left the diocese with two disconnected fragments, north and south. In 1837 the southern part was transferred to other dioceses: Bedfordshire and Huntingdonshire to the Diocese of Ely, and Buckinghamshire to the Diocese of Oxford. Also in 1837 the county of Leicestershire was transferred from Lincoln to Dioceses of Peterborough, later becoming the independent Diocese of Leicester in 1927 and Nottinghamshire was added until 1884 when it was organised into Diocese of Southwell and Nottingham. In 1845 Hertfordshire was transferred to the Diocese of Rochester.

The present area of the diocese covers:
 * Lincolnshire

Archdeaconries and deaneries
The diocese is divided into three Archdeaconries containing a total of twenty-two deaneries:
 * the Archdeaconry of Lincoln
 * comprises the Deaneries of Stamford; Beltisloe; Christianity; Elloe East; Elloe West; Graffoe; Grantham; Holland; Lafford; Loveden
 * the Archdeaconry of Lindsey
 * comprises the Deaneries of Bolingbroke; Calcewaithe and Candleshoe; Haverstoe; Grimsby and Cleethorpes; Horncastle; Louthesk
 * the Archdeaconry of Stow
 * comprises the Deaneries of Corringham; Isle of Axholme; Lawres ; Manlake; West Wold; Yarborough