The Bishop of St Asaph heads the Church in Wales diocese of St Asaph.
The diocese covers the counties of Conwy and Flintshire, Wrexham county borough, the eastern part of Merioneth in Gwynedd and part of northern Powys. The Episcopal seat is located in the Cathedral Church of St Asaph in the city of St Asaph in Denbighshire, north Wales.
The Bishop's residence is Esgobty, St Asaph. The current bishop is Gregory Cameron, who was elected on 5 January and consecrated on 4 April 2009. He became Bishop of St Asaph in succession to John Davies, who was consecrated in October 1999 and who retired in 2008.
Early times This diocese was supposedly founded by St Kentigern (Cyndeyrn) about the middle of the 6th century, although this is unlikely. The date often given is 583. Exiled from his see in Scotland, Kentigern is said to have founded a monastery called Llanelwy – which is the Welsh name for St Asaph – at the confluence of the rivers Clwyd and Elwy in north Wales, where after his return to Scotland he was succeeded by Asaph or Asa, who was consecrated Bishop of Llanelwy. The Diocese of Llanelwy originally largely coincided with the kingdom of Powys, together with the part of the kingdom of Gwynedd known as Gwynedd Is Conwy, but lost much territory first by the Mercian encroachment marked by Watt's dyke and again by the construction of Offa's Dyke, soon after 798. Nothing is known of the history of the diocese during the disturbed period that followed. Some historians doubt the existence of the diocese per se before the Norman period, and the bishop list and the fact that the Diocese of Bangor, in the kingdom of Gwynedd, held large tracts of land there tends to confirm this.
Middle Ages The Domesday Book of 1086 gives scanty particulars of a few churches but is silent as to the cathedral. Early in the twelfth century Norman influence asserted itself and in 1143 Theobald, Archbishop of Canterbury, consecrated one Gilbert as Bishop of St. Asaph, but the position of his successors was very difficult and one of them, Godfrey, was driven away by poverty and the hostility of the Welsh. A return made in the middle of the thirteenth century (London, British Library, Cotton Vitellius, c. x.) shows the existence of eight rural deaneries, seventy-nine churches, and nineteen chapels. By 1291 the deaneries had been doubled in number and there were Cistercian houses at Basingwerk, Aberconwy, Strata Marcella and Valle Crucis, and a Cistercian nunnery, Llanllugan Abbey. The cathedral, which had been burnt in the wars, was rebuilt and completed in 1295. Dedicated to St Asaph, it was a plain massive structure of simple plan, and was again destroyed during the Wars of the Roses. When it was restored by Bishop Redman the palace was not rebuilt and thus the bishops continued to be nonresident, notwithstanding the fact that in the late Middle Ages the bishop had five episcopal residences, four of which were alienated under King Edward VI. Redman was abbot of Shap Abbey and visitor for the Premonstratensian canons, and spent most of his time visiting their monasteries or his diocese; he was diligent in his duties and felt no need to be resident in the city. At the end of the fifteenth century there was a great revival of church building, as is evidenced by the churches of that date still existing in the diocese. The chief shrines in the diocese were St Winefred's Well, St Garmon in Yale, St Derfel Gadarn in Edeirnion, St Melangell at Pennant, and the Holy Cross in Strata Marcella. All these were demolished at the Reformation. At that time the diocese contained one archdeaconry, sixteen deaneries, and one hundred and twenty-one parishes.
The names and succession of the bishops after Saints Kentigern and Asaph are not clearly known until 1143. The last bishop in communion with Rome was Thomas Goldwell, who acceded in 1555 and was in the process of being transferred to Oxford when Queen Mary I died and Elizabeth I came to the throne. Goldwell fled to the Continent and died in Rome on 13 April 1585, the last surviving member of the pre-Reformation hierarchy.
The Report of the Commissioners appointed by his Majesty to inquire into the Ecclesiastical Revenues of England and Wales (1835) found the see had an annual net income of £6,301. This made it the wealthiest diocese in Wales and the fourth richest in Britain after Canterbury, London and Winchester.The National Cyclopaedia of Useful Knowledge Vol.III, (1847), London, Charles Knight, p.362
The see continued to be part of the Church of England until the Church was disestablished in Wales in 1920, since when it has been part of the (Anglican) Church in Wales.
List of the Bishops of St Asaph Pre-reformation bishops Bishops of St Asaph From Until Incumbent Notes6th century ADKentigern (Saint Mungo)Originally Bishop of Glasgow from ; founded diocese as episcopus Elvensis, Elguensis, Elveiisis, Lanelwensis6th century ADSaint AsaphSaint TysilioRenchidusCeburMelanus1143GilbertSee recreated as suffragan of Canterbury1154Geoffrey of Monmouth11541155RichardDied in office1165GodfreyLeft see to become abbot of Abingdon in 1165, removed from office in 117511751181Adam the WelshmanCanon of Pershore1183John I1186Reiner1225Abraham1235HughMonk of the Friars12421247Hywel ab EdnyfedAlso known as Howel ap Ednevet12471249vacant12491266Einion IAlso known as Anian12671268John II12681293Einion IIAlso known as Anian de Schonau, prior of Rhudland12931314Llywelyn de BromfieldAlso known as Leolinus de Bromfield1315Dafydd ap BleddynAlso known as David ap Blethin; canon of St. Asaph13521357John Trevor (I)Also known as John Trevaur13571375Llywelyn ap Madog Also known as Leolinus ap Madoc ap Elis; dean of St. Asaph13761382William SpridlingtonAlso known as William de Spridlington; dean of St. Asaph13821389Lawrence ChildMonk of Battle Abbey, licentiate of the civil law13901394Alexander BacheAlso known as Alexander Bach; canon of St. Asaph13951402John Trevor (II)Prebendary of Hereford; deprived, possibly reinstated following David II as see not declared vacant prior to his death in 14101402David II1411Robert LancasterAlso known as Robert of Lancaster14331444John LowAlso known as John Lobbe; a friar eremite; translated to Rochester14441449Reginald PecockAlso known as Reginald Peacock; translated to Chichester14501463Thomas BirdAlso known as Thomas Knight; deprived for rebellion; temporalities of the diocese to the king, the bishop of Rochester, Robert Caunton, and John Stanley before the pardoning of Thomas in 147114711495Richard RedmanTranslated to Exeter1500Michael DeaconAlso known as Michael Dyacon; the king's confessor15001503Dafydd ab Ieuan ab IorwerthAlso known as David ap Yeworth; abbot of Valle CrucisDafydd ab OwainAlso known as David ap Owen; abbot of Aberconwy15131518Edmund BirkheadAlso known as Edmund Brokehed15181535Henry Standish
During the Reformation Bishops of St Asaph From Until Incumbent Notes1536William BarlowPrior of Haverfordwest. Translated to St David's, then Bath & Wells, then Chichester15361554Robert ParfewAlso known as Robert Warton; abbot of St. Savior's Bermondsey; translated to Hereford1556Thomas Goldwell CRWent into voluntary exile (as Catholic)
Post-Reformation Bishops of the Church of England Bishops of St Asaph From Until Incumbent Notes15601561 Richard DaviesTranslated to St David's15611573 Thomas Davies15731600 William Hughes16011604 William MorganTranslator of the Bible into Welsh. Translated from Llandaff16041623 Richard ParryDean of Bangor16241629 John HanmerPrebendary of Worcester16291646 John OwenArchdeacon of St Asaph; deprived of the see when episcopacy was abolished by Parliament on 9 October 1646; died 165116461660 The see was abolished during the Commonwealth and the Protectorate.16601666 George GriffithArchdeacon of St Asaph16671670 Henry GlemhamDean of Bristol16701680 Isaac BarrowTranslated from Sodor & Man16801692 William LloydDean of Bangor; translated to Lichfield & Coventry, then Worcester16921703 Edward JonesTranslated from Cloyne, Ireland17031704 George HooperDean of Canterbury; translated to Bath & Wells17041708 William BeveridgeArchdeacon of Colchester17081714 William FleetwoodCanon of Windsor; translated to Ely17141727 John WynnePrincipal of Jesus College, Oxford; translated to Bath & Wells17271731 Francis HareDean of Worcester and of St Paul's in London; translated to Chichester17321735 Thomas TannerCanon of Christ Church, Oxford17361743 Isaac MaddoxDean of Wells; translated to Worcester17431744 John ThomasDean of Peterborough; elected in Nov. but translated to Lincoln in Jan. before consecration17441748 Samuel LisleArchdeacon of Canterbury; translated to Norwich17481761 Robert Hay DrummondPrebendary of Westminster; translated to Salisbury17611769 Richard NewcomeTranslated from Llandaff17691788 Jonathan ShipleyTranslated from Llandaff17891790 Samuel HallifaxAlso known as Samuel Halifax; translated from Gloucester17901802 Lewis BagotTranslated from Norwich18021806 Samuel HorsleyTranslated from Rochester18061815 William CleaverTranslated from Bangor18151830 John LuxmooreTranslated from Hereford18301846 William CareyTranslated from Exeter18461870 Thomas Vowler ShortTranslated from Sodor & Man18701889 Joshua HughesVicar of Llandovery18891920 Alfred George EdwardsChurch in Wales disestablished 1920
Bishops of the disestablished Church in Wales Bishops of St AsaphFromUntilIncumbentNotes19201934 Alfred George EdwardsFirst Archbishop of Wales 1920–193419341950 William Havard19501971 David Bartlett19711981 Harold Charles19811999 Alwyn Rice JonesArchbishop of Wales 1991–199919992008 John Davies2009incumbent Gregory CameronConsecrated 4 April 2009 Source(s):Hardy, T. Duffus. Fasti Ecclesiae Anglicanae; or, a Calendar of the Principal Ecclesiastical Dignitaries in England and Wales, and of the Chief Officers in the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge from the Earliest Times to the Year MDCCXV, Corrected and Continued to the Present Time, Vol. I, "St. Asaph's". Oxford Univ. Press, 1854. Accessed 18 Feb 2013.
Assistant bishops Among those who have served as assistant bishops of the diocese have been: 1993–1996: Huw Jones, later Bishop of St Davids
Notes
References Haydn's Book of Dignities (1894), Joseph Haydn/Horace Ockerby, reprinted 1969 Whitaker's Almanack, 1883 to 2004, Joseph Whitaker & Sons Ltd/A&C Black, London https://web.archive.org/web/20050320015243/http://tejones.net/religion/Bishops/