The Archdeacons in the Diocese of Chelmsford are senior ecclesiastical officers in the Church of England in Essex and East London. They currently include: the Archdeacon of West Ham, the Archdeacon of Colchester and the archdeacons of Chelmsford, of Harlow, of Barking, of Stansted and of Southend. Each one has responsibility over a geographical area within the diocese.
History
When the diocese was created, it consisted of the ancient archdeaconries of Essex and Colchester. The first changes to the diocese's archdeaconries occurred on 17 March 1922 when the Archdeaconry of Southend was created from the old Essex archdeaconry and that old archdeaconry renamed to West Ham: at its erection, the 1922 Southend archdeaconry consisted of the Deaneries of Barstable/Brentwood, of Canewdon and Southend, of Chelmsford, of Chigwell, of Dengie, of Harlow, of Maldon, of Ongar, of Roding, and of Wickford. West Ham archdeaconry was further split in 1993 to create the Archdeaconry of Harlow following a 1989 decision of the Diocesan Synod.
As part of Stephen Cottrell's vision for the diocese's long-term future, consultations occurred on proposals to create three new archdeaconries. On 1 February 2013, by Pastoral Order of the Bishop of Chelmsford, the three archdeaconries were created: the new Archdeaconry of Stansted from Colchester archdeaconry, a new Archdeaconry of Barking from West Ham archdeaconry and a new Archdeaconry of Southend created from Southend archdeaconry after it had been renamed the Archdeaconry of Chelmsford. Initially, the Archdeacons of Colchester, of West Ham, and of Chelmsford were also Acting Archdeacons of Stansted, of Barking, and of Southend respectively.
List of archdeacons
Archdeacons of Essex and of West Ham
2007–present: Elwin Cockett
Archdeacons of Colchester
2010–present: Ruth Patten
Archdeacons of Southend (before 2013) and of Chelmsford
Archdeacons of Southend
1922–1937 (ret.): Percy Bayne (afterwards archdeacon emeritus) 1938–1953 (ret.): Ellis Gowing (afterwards archdeacon emeritus) 1953–1972 (ret.): Neville Welch (also Bishop suffragan of Bradwell from 1968) 1972–1977 (res.): Peter Bridges 1977–1982 (res.): John Moses 1982–1992 (res.): Jonathan Bailey 1992–2000 (res.): David Jennings 20011 February 2013 (renamed): David Lowman
Archdeacons of Chelmsford
1 February 201331 January 2016 (ret.): David Lowman
13 March 2016October 2022 (ret): Elizabeth Snowden (retired on or after 2 October 2022) 4 November 2023 onwards: Jonathan Croucher (announced)
Archdeacons of Harlow
1993–1996 (res.): Michael Fox
1996–2009 (ret.): Peter Taylor
200931 March 2017 (ret.): Martin Webster
24 September 201731 March 2023 (retired): Vanessa Herrick
Archdeacons of Barking
1 February15 September 2013: Elwin Cockett, Archdeacon of West Ham (Acting) 15 September 20133 July 2018: John Perumbalath (became area Bishop of Bradwell) 12 May 2019present: Chris Burke
Archdeacons of Stansted
1 February15 September 2013: Annette Cooper, Archdeacon of Colchester (Acting) 15 September 201330 September 2023: Robin King 4 November 2023 onwards: Kate Peacock (announced)
Archdeacons of Southend (since 2013) 1 February15 September 2013: David Lowman, Archdeacon of Chelmsford (Acting) 15 September 201331 December 2016 (ret.): Mina Smallman 19 March 2017November 2021 (ret.): Mike Lodge (Acting since 1 August 2016) 26 June 2022present: Mike Power (Acting since November 2021)