The Diocese of Portsmouth is an administrative division of the Church of England Province of Canterbury in England. The diocese covers south-east Hampshire and the Isle of Wight. The see is based in the City of Portsmouth in Hampshire, where the seat is located at the Cathedral Church of St Thomas of Canterbury.

Origin

The Diocese of Portsmouth was created on 1 May 1927 under George V from the Diocese of Winchester. It consists of the three archdeaconries of:

• Portsdown (comprising the deaneries of Portsmouth and Havant);
• The Meon (comprising the deaneries of Fareham, Gosport, Petersfield and Bishop's Waltham);
• The Isle of Wight (comprising the deanery of the Isle of Wight).

Bishops

The Bishop of Portsmouth leads the diocese as one of two diocesan bishops in the Church of England not assisted by a suffragan bishop, the other being the Bishop of Hereford.

Alternative episcopal oversight (for parishes in the diocese which do not accept the ordination of women as priests) is provided by the provincial episcopal visitor, Norman Banks, Bishop suffragan of Richborough. There are also four former bishops living in the diocese who are licensed as honorary assistant bishops:

• 1995–present: A retired Bishop of Guildford, Michael Adie, lives in Froxfield, Hampshire and is also licensed in the Diocese of Chichester.

• 2008–present: Godfrey Ashby was a diocesan bishop then a theology professor (and assistant bishop) in the Anglican Church of Southern Africa before returning to Britain as the full-time Assistant Bishop of Leicester. He retired back to South Africa, where he was an assistant bishop, then returned to live in Broadclyst, Devon (where he is also licensed in the Diocese of Exeter.)

• 2012–present: Timothy Bavin, oblate master at Alton Abbey, is a retired Bishop of Portsmouth who is licensed as an honorary assistant bishop in both Winchester (in which diocese the abbey lies) and Portsmouth dioceses.

• 2012–present: John Hind, retired Bishop of Chichester, lives in Emsworth, Hampshire.

Safeguarding

The Anglican Diocese of Portsmouth had a number of sexual abuse convictions in the 1980s and 1990s. Timothy Bavin was the Bishop between 1985 and 1995 and during this time a number of serious safeguarding issues took place. For example, Bavin did not report Fr Terry Knight to the police when parents raised their concerns to him in 1985. Knight was allowed to continue in his position until he was later convicted for sexually abusing boys in 1996 and again in 2016. Bavin had also allowed a convicted paedophile Fr Michael Gover to resume working for the church on his release in 1990. Gover was convicted in 1985 at around the same time as parents raising their concerns about Knight. Bavin stood down in 1995 whilst Knight's police investigation and court case was taking place.

Archdeaconries and deaneries

Diocese	Archdeaconry	Deanery	Paid clergy	Churches	Population	People/clergy	People/church	Churches/clergy
Diocese of Portsmouth	Archdeaconry of Portsdown	Deanery of Havant	16	26	149,426	9,339	5,747	1.63
		Deanery of Portsmouth	23*	26*	202,016	8,783	7,770	1.13
	Archdeaconry of the Isle of Wight	Deanery of the Isle of Wight	21	60	138,259	6,584	2,304	2.86
	Archdeaconry of the Meon	Deanery of Bishop's Waltham	7	17	28,844	4,121	1,697	2.43
		Deanery of Fareham	14	13	117,854	8,418	9,066	0.93
		Deanery of Gosport	8	10	82,625	10,328	8,263	1.25
		Deanery of Petersfield	12	20	40,808	3,401	2,040	1.67
Total/average			104	170	759,832	7,306	4,470	1.63

*including Cathedral

List of churches

Not in a deanery

Benefice	Church	Link	Founded (building)	Clergy	Pop. served
Cathedral	Cathedral of St Thomas of Canterbury, Portsmouth	[1]	Medieval	4	4,396

Deanery of Havant

Benefice	Church	Link	Founded (building)	Clergy	Pop. served
Bedhampton (St Nicholas's Mission Church) (St Thomas)	St Thomas, Bedhampton	[2]	Ancient (Medieval)	1	9,874
	St Nicholas, Bedhampton		1959
Blendworth (Holy Trinity) with Chalton with Idsworth	Holy Trinity, Blendworth	[3]	1851	0	1,055
	St Michael & All Angels, Chalton		Medieval		77
	St Hubert, Idsworth		Ancient		150
Catherington (All Saints) and Clanfield	All Saints, Catherington	[4]	Medieval	0	9,086
	St James, Clanfield		Medieval (1875)		3,745
Cowplain (St Wilfrid)	St Wilfrid, Cowplain	[5]	1923	2	13,421
	Westbrook Church
Crookhorn (Good Shepherd)	Good Shepherd, Crookhorn	[6]	1978	1	2,989
Portsdown (Christ Church)	Christ Church, Portsdown	[7]	1872	1	6,285
Purbrook (St John the Baptist)	St John the Baptist, Purbrook	[8]	1858		8,426
Denmead (All Saints)	All Saints, Denmead	[9]	1880	1	6,758
Hartplain (Not Known)	Hart Plain Church (CoE/Methodist)	[10]		1	8,974
Havant (St Faith)	St Faith, Havant	[11]	Medieval	3	8,487
	St Nicholas' Chapel, Langstone		1869
Hayling Island (St Andrew) Eastoke	St Andrew, Eastoke	[12]	c. 1940 (1964)	1	4,687
Hayling, North (St Peter)	St Peter, North Hayling		Medieval		1,798
Hayling, South (St Mary)	St Mary, South Hayling		Medieval		10,894
Leigh Park (St Francis)	St Francis, Leigh Park	[13]	1963	1	13,099
Warren Park (St Clare)	St Clare, Warren Park		1970		3,278
Leigh, West (St Alban)	St Alban, West Leigh	[14]	1957 (1966)	1	9,830
Rowlands Castle (St John the Baptist)	St John the Baptist, Rowlands Castle	[15]	1838	0	2,357
Warblington (St Thomas À Becket) with Emsworth	St Thomas à Becket, Warblington	[16]	Ancient (Medieval)	2	10,709
	St James, Emsworth		1840
Waterlooville (St George the Martyr)	St George, Waterlooville	[17]	1831 (1970)	1	13,447

Deanery of Portsmouth

Benefice	Church	Link	Founded (building)	Clergy	Pop. served
Cosham (St Philip)	St Philip, Cosham	[18]	1938	1	4,266
Wymering (St Peter and St Paul)	SS Peter & Paul, Wymering	[19]	Medieval		6,608
Farlington (St Andrew) (Church of the Resurrection)	St Andrew, Farlington	[20]	Medieval (1875)	2	15,146
	The Resurrection, Farlington		1930
Milton (St James) (St Andrew's Church Centre) (St Patrick)	St James, Milton	[21]	1841 (1913)	1	23,326
Paulsgrove (St Michael and All Angels)	St Michael & All Angels, Paulsgrove	[22]	1957	1	11,834
Portsea (All Saints)	All Saints, Portsea		1828	0	5,236
Portsea (St Mary) (St Faith and St Barnabas) (St Wilfrid)	St Mary, Portsea	[23]	Ancient (1889)	2	21,635
	St Faith, Portsea
	St Wilfrid, Portsea
Southsea (St Luke) (St Peter)	St Luke, Southsea	[24]	1861	1	13,431
Portsea (St Alban)	St Alban, Copnor	[25]	1914	2	5,542
	Harbour Church Portsmouth	[26]	2016
Portsea (St George)	St George, Portsea	[27]	1753		4,567
Portsea (St Cuthbert)	St Cuthbert, Copnor	[28]	1908 (1915)	0	12,167
	St Aidan, Anchorage Park
Portsea (St Saviour)	St Saviour, Portsea		1901 (1913)	3	6,261
Portsea (The Ascension)	Ascension, North End	[29]	1908 (1913)		7,882
Portsea North End (St Mark)	St Mark, North End	[30]	1868 (1970)		20,608
	St Nicholas, North End		1930
	St Francis, Hilsea		1930 (1936)
Southsea (Holy Spirit)	Holy Spirit, Southsea	[31]	1858 (1958)	2	13,462
Southsea (St Jude)	St Jude, Southsea	[32]	1851	2	8,783
Southsea (St Margaret of Scotland)	St Margaret's Community Church, Southsea	[33]	2017 (1903)	0	7,554
Southsea (St Simon)	St Simon, Southsea	[34]	1858	0	9,312

Deanery of the Isle of Wight

Benefice	Church	Link	Founded (building)	Clergy	Pop. served
Arreton (St George)	St George, Arreton		Medieval	1	940
Newchurch (All Saints)	All Saints, Newchurch		Medieval		2,397
Barton (St Paul)	St Paul, Barton	[35]	1844	0	5,184
Bembridge (Holy Trinity) (St Luke's Mission Church)	Holy Trinity, Bembridge	[36]	1827 (1846)	1	3,679
	St Luke's Chapel, Bembridge
Binstead (Holy Cross)	Holy Cross, Binstead	[37]	Medieval	1	4,490
Havenstreet (St Peter)	St Peter, Havenstreet		1852		491
Wootton (St Edmund)	St Edmund, Wootton	[38]	Medieval		3,653
	St Mark, Wootton Bridge		1909
Bonchurch (St Boniface) (St Boniface Old Church)	St Boniface, Bonchurch	[39]	1848		568
	Old St Boniface, Bonchurch		Medieval
Ventnor (Holy Trinity)	Holy Trinity, Ventnor		1862		1,291
Ventnor (St Catherine)	St Catherine, Ventnor		1837		1,929
Wight, West, Comprising Brighstone, Brook, Calbourne, Freshwater, Mottistone, Newtown, Shalfleet, Shorwell with Kingston, Thorley, Totland Bay, and Yarmouth	St Mary, Brighstone	[40]	Medieval	2	1,357
	St Mary, Brook		Medieval (1864)		135
	SS Peter & Paul, Mottistone		Medieval		81
	St Peter, Shorwell		Medieval		659
	St James, Kingston (?)		Medieval (1892)
	All Saints, Calbourne		Medieval		355
	Holy Spirit, Newtown		1835		317
	St Michael the Archangel, Shalfleet	[41]	Medieval		1,573
	All Saints, Freshwater		Medieval		5,428
	St Agnes, Freshwater (?)		1908
	St James, Yarmouth		Medieval (c. 1626)		591
	St Swithun, Thorley	[42]	1871		274
	Christ Church, Totland Bay	[43]	1869 (1875)		2,868
Carisbrooke (St Mary the Virgin)	St Mary, Carisbrooke	[44]	Medieval	1
Carisbrooke (St Nicholas in the Castle)	St Nicholas in Castro, Carisbrooke		Medieval (1904)
Gatcombe (St Olave)	St Olave, Gatcombe		Medieval

Benefice	Churches	Link	Clergy	Population served	Ref
Chale (St Andrew)	St Andrew, Chale		Rector: Nigel Porter	3,331
St Lawrence (Old Church) (St Lawrence)	St Lawrence, St Lawrence
Whitwell (St Mary and St Rhadegunde)	SS Mary & Radegund, Whitwell
Niton (St John the Baptist)	St John the Baptist, Niton
Cowes (Holy Trinity) (St Mary the Virgin)	Holy Trinity, Cowes		Vicar: Andrew Poppe	5,835
	St Mary the Virgin, Cowes	[45]
Gatten (St Paul)	St Paul, Gatten		Priest-in-Charge: Mark Williams NSM (Sandown): Tony Richards	9,487
Sandown (Christ Church)	Christ Church, Sandown	[46]
Godshill (All Saints)	All Saints, Godshill St Alban the Martyr, Ventnor	[47]	Vicar: John Ryder NSM: Corinne Smith	3,631
Gurnard (All Saints) with Cowes St Faith	All Saints, Gurnard	[48]	Vicar/Rector: Amanda Collinson Curate: Stephen Sutcliffe NSM: Diana Netherway	9,405
Northwood (St John the Baptist)	St John the Baptist, Northwood
Lake (Good Shepherd)	Good Shepherd, Lake		Priest-in-Charge: David Lawrence-Marsh NSM: Corinne Smith (see above)	5,271
Shanklin (St Saviour On the Cliff)	St Saviour-on-the-Cliff, Shanklin
Newport (St John the Baptist)	St John the Baptist, Newport	[49]	Priest-in-Charge: Alison Kerr NSM: Janet Hallam NSM: David Brown	5,790
Newport (St Thomas)	SS Thomas Minster, Newport	[50]	Vicar: Kevin Arkell NSM: Janet Hallam (see above)	5,666
Ryde (All Saints)	All Saints, Ryde	[51]	Priest-in-Charge: Vacant	10,226
Swanmore (St Michael and All Angels)	St Michael & All Angels, Swanmore
Ryde (St James) Proprietary Chapel	St James, Ryde	[52]	Curate-in-Charge: James Leggett	N/A
Ryde (St John the Baptist) Oakfield and Holy Trinity	St John, Oakfield Holy Trinity, Ryde	[53]	Priest-in-Charge: Sue Theobald	10,501
Sandown, Lower (St John the Evangelist)	St John the Evangelist, Sandown		Priest-in-Charge: Vacant Curate: Jonathan Hall NSM (Sandown): Tony Richards (see above)	6,189
Shanklin (St Blasius)	St Blasius, Shanklin	[54]
Seaview (St Peter), St Helens, Brading and Yaverland	St Peter, Seaview St Helen, St Helens St Catherine's Chapel, St Helens St Mary, Brading St John the Baptist, Yaverland	[55]	Rector: Alison Morley	6,148
Whippingham (St Mildred) with East Cowes	St Mildred, Whippingham St James, East Cowes	[56]	Rector: Susan Paterson	8,439
Wroxall (St John the Evangelist)	St John the Evangelist, Wroxall	[57]	Hon. Priest-in-Charge: Vacant	1,724

Deanery of Bishop's Waltham

Benefice	Churches	Link	Clergy	Population served	Ref
Bishop's Waltham (St Peter)	St Peter, Bishop's Waltham	[58]	Rector: James Hunt NSM: Jane Beloe NSM: Keith Wickert	7,324
Upham (All Saints) (Blessed Mary of Upham)	Blessed Mary of Upham, Upham
Botley (All Saints)	All Saints, Botley	[59]	Rector: Gregg Mensingh	6,371
Curdridge (St Peter)	St Peter, Curdridge
Durley (Holy Cross)	Holy Cross, Durley
Meon Bridge, Comprising Droxford, Exton, and Meonstoke with Corhampton	St Mary & All Saints, Droxford SS Peter & Paul, Exton Corhampton Church St Andrew, Meonstoke	[60]	Rector: Antony Forrest Curate: Samantha Martell	1,739
Shedfield (St John the Baptist) and Wickham	St John the Baptist, Shedfield	[61]	Rector: Jane Isaac NSM: Brian McHugh Hon. Curate: Juliet Montague	6,308
	St Nicholas, Wickham	[62]
Soberton (St Peter), Newtown and Hambledon	SS Peter & Paul, Hambledon	[63]	Priest-in-Charge: Vacant	2,715
	St Peter, Soberton Holy Trinity, Newtown	[64]
Southwick (St James) with Boarhunt	St James, Southwick St Nicholas, Boarhunt	[65]	Priest-in-Charge: Simon Brocklehurst	1,456
Swanmore (St Barnabas)	St Barnabas, Swanmore	[66]	Vicar: Claire Towns	2,931

Deanery of Fareham

Benefice	Churches	Link	Clergy	Population served	Ref
Crofton (Holy Rood) (St Edmund)	Holy Rood, Crofton St Edmund, Crofton	[67]	Vicar: Richard England Curate: Judith Greenfield Curate: Dan Greenfield NSM: Colin Prestidge	14,947
Fareham (Holy Trinity) (St Columba)	Holy Trinity, Fareham St Columba, Fareham	[68]	Team Rector: Sally Davenport Curate: Wendy May Jacobs	19,250
Fareham (St John the Evangelist)	St John the Evangelist, Fareham	[69]	Priest-in-Charge: Bruce Deans	9,746
Fareham (St Peter and St Paul)	SS Peter & Paul, Fareham St Francis, Funtley	[70]	Priest-in-Charge: Roger Jackson	14,251
Hook (St Mary) with Warsash	St Mary, Warsash	[71]	Vicars (NSM): Mike and Nicky-Sue Terry	9,843
Locks Heath (St John the Baptist)	St John the Baptist, Locks Heath	[72]	Vicar: Gavin Foster Curate: Amy Webb	11,658
Portchester (St Mary)	St Mary, Portchester	[73]	Priest-in-Charge: Ian Meredith	15,618
Sarisbury (St Paul)	St Paul, Sarisbury Green	[74]	Vicar/Priest-in-Charge: Sandy Matheson Curate-in-Charge (Whiteley): Philippa Mills Minister (Whiteley): Amy Adeniran	12,585
Whiteley Conventional District	Whiteley Church	[75]
Titchfield (St Peter)	St Peter, Titchfield	[76]	Priest-in-Charge: Susan Allman NSM: Janet Trevithick	9,956

Deanery of Gosport

Benefice	Churches	Link	Clergy	Population served	Ref
Alverstoke (St Faith) (St Francis) (St Mary)	St Mary, Alverstoke St Faith, Alverstoke St Francis, Alverstoke	[77]	Priest-in-Charge: Andrew Norris Curate: Chris Richardson	16,532
Bridgemary (St Matthew)	St Matthew, Bridgemary	[78]	Vicar: Karen Mitchell NSM (Elson): Margaret Hay	19,046
Elson (St Thomas)	St Thomas the Apostle, Elson
Forton (St John the Evangelist)	St John the Evangelist, Forton	[79]	Vicar: Carrie Thompson	12,473
Gosport (Christ Church)	Christ Church, Gosport	[80]	Priest-in-Charge: Ray Driscoll Priest: Godfrey Chigumira	8,399
Gosport (Holy Trinity)	Holy Trinity, Gosport	[81]
Lee-On-The-Solent (St Faith)	St Faith, Lee-on-the-Solent	[82]	Priest-in-Charge: Paul Chamberlain Curate: Mary Kells NSM: Brian Williams NSM: Steve Dent	10,863
Rowner (St Mary the Virgin)	St Mary the Virgin, Rowner	[83]	Rector: John Draper	15,312

Deanery of Petersfield

Benefice	Churches	Link	Clergy	Population served	Ref
Blackmoor (St Matthew) and Whitehill	St Matthew, Blackmoor	[84]	Vicar: Alice Wood Vicar: Dominic Clarke	4,484
Greatham (St John the Baptist)	St John the Baptist, Greatham
Bramshott (St Mary the Virgin) and Liphook	St Mary the Virgin, Bramshott Liphook Church Centre	[85]	Priest-in-Charge: Valentine Inglis-Jones	8,514
Petersfield (St Peter)	St Peter, Petersfield	[86]	Rector: Will Hughes Curate: Samantha Cullen NSM (Buriton): Judith Bee NSM (Petersfield): Helen Mitchell	11,125
Buriton (St Mary the Virgin)	St Mary the Virgin, Buriton	[87]
Empshott (Holy Rood) and Hawkley with Priors Dean	Holy Rood, Empshott SS Peter & Paul, Hawkley Priors Dean Parish Church		Priest-in-Charge: Peter Sutton	525
Langrish (St John the Evangelist)	St John the Evangelist, Langrish		Vicar/Curate: Jane Ball Curate: Katy Garner	2,520
Meon, East (All Saints)	All Saints, East Meon
Meon, West (St John the Evangelist) and Warnford	St John the Evangelist, West Meon Our Lady, Warnford
Liss (St Mary) (St Peter) (St Saviour)	St Mary, Liss St Saviour, Liss (?)	[88]	Rector: Chris Williams Curate: Richard Hutchins	6,349
Sheet (St Mary Magdalene)	St Mary Magdalene, Sheet	[89]	Vicar: Richard Saunders NSM: Anderson Marsh NSM: Peter Micklethwaite	4,691
Steep (All Saints) and Froxfield with Privett	All Saints, Steep Stroud Mission Church St Peter, Froxfield St Peter, Froxfield Green	[90]	Vicar: John Owen NSM: Christine Prior-Jones NSM: Susie Collingridge	2,600

See also

• Roman Catholic Diocese of Portsmouth