Diocese of Carlisle

Diocese of Carlisle Dioecesis Carleolensis
Coat of arms
Flag
Location
Ecclesiastical province	Province of York
Archdeaconries	Carlisle, West Cumberland, Westmorland and Furness
Statistics
Parishes	267
Churches	349
Information
Cathedral	Carlisle Cathedral
Language	English
Current leadership
Bishop	Bishop of Carlisle (vacant; acting: the Bishop of Penrith)
Suffragan	Rob Saner-Haigh, Bishop of Penrith
Archdeacons	Vernon Ross, Archdeacon of Westmorland and Furness Stewart Fyfe, Archdeacon of West Cumberland Archdeacon of Carlisle (vacant)
Website
carlislediocese.org.uk

The Diocese of Carlisle was created in 11 April 1132 by Henry I out of part of the Diocese of Durham, although many people of Cumbric descent in the area looked to Glasgow for spiritual leadership. The first bishop was Æthelwold, who was the king's confessor and became prior of the Augustinian priory at Nostell in Yorkshire. Carlisle was thus the only cathedral in England apart from Bristol to be run by Augustinians instead of Benedictines. This only lasted until the reign of Henry III however, when the Augustinians in Carlisle joined the rebels who temporarily handed the city over to Scotland and elected their own bishop. When the revolt was ended, the Augustinians were expelled.

The seat of the diocese is the Cathedral Church of the Holy and Undivided Trinity in Carlisle.

The Diocese covers most of the ceremonial county of Cumbria; Alston Moor is part of the Diocese of Newcastle and the area around Sedbergh is within the Diocese of Leeds. The diocese originally only covered the northern parts of Cumberland and Westmorland, and expanded to cover almost the entirety of these, as well as the Furness and Cartmel areas of Lancashire, in 1847, from part of the Diocese of Chester, although this did not take effect until 1856.