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The Diocese of Canterbury is a Church of England diocese covering eastern Kent, founded by St Augustine in 597. It is centred on (and named for) Canterbury Cathedral, and is the oldest see of the Church of England.
The diocesan bishop is the Archbishop of Canterbury; but because of his roles as Metropolitan of the Province of Canterbury, Primate of All England, and worldwide head of the Anglican Communion, the archbishop (whose primary residence, moreover, is at Lambeth Palace in London) is often away. Hence one of his suffragan bishops, the Suffragan Bishop of Dover, is given the additional title of "Bishop in Canterbury" and in many ways empowered to act almost as if he were the diocesan bishop. Another diocesan suffragan bishop is the Suffragan Bishop of Maidstone. (Two further suffragans with titular cities located in the diocese — Ebbsfleet and Richborough — are really provincial episcopal visitors with a focus more wide-ranging than the local diocese.)
For organizational purposes, the diocese is divided into sixteen rural deaneries:
- in the archdeaconry of Canterbury— Canterbury, Dover, East Bridge, Elham, Reculver, Sandwich, Thanet and West Bridge;
- in the archdeaconry of Maidstone— Cranbrook, Ashford, Maidstone, North Downs, Romney, Ospringe, Sittingbourne and Tenterden.
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