Bishop of Ramsbury

The Bishop of Ramsbury is an episcopal title used by a suffragan bishop of the Church of England Diocese of Salisbury, in the Province of Canterbury, England. The title takes its name after the town of Ramsbury in Wiltshire, and was first used between the 10th and 11th centuries by the Anglo-Saxon Bishops of Ramsbury. From the establishment of the Salisbury area scheme in 1981 until its abolition in 2009, the bishops suffragan of Ramsbury were area bishops.

The diocese announced in August 2011 that the Bishop of Salisbury had commissioned (under new national guidelines) a consultation as to whether a new Bishop of Ramsbury should be appointed. The appointment of Ed Condry was announced on 19 June 2012.

Saxon diocese

There was previously a Saxon diocese of Ramsbury, led by medieval Catholic bishops of Ramsbury. In Saxon times, the village of Ramsbury in Wiltshire was an extremely important location for the Church, and several of the early bishops went on to become Archbishops of Canterbury.

Ramsbury

Coordinates: 51°26′31″N 1°36′22″W / 51.442°N 1.606°W / 51.442; -1.606

Ramsbury is a village and civil parish in the English county of Wiltshire. The village is in the Kennet Valley near the Berkshire boundary. The nearest towns are Hungerford about 4.5 miles (7.2 km) east and Marlborough about 5.5 miles (8.9 km) west. The much larger town of Swindon is about 12 miles (19 km) to the north.

The civil parish includes the hamlet of Axford about 2.5 miles (4.0 km) west of Ramsbury, and three smaller hamlets: New Town, close to Ramsbury to the southeast, and Knighton and Whittonditch, both about 1 mile (1.6 km) to the east. The 2011 Census recorded a parish population of 1,989.

History

Littlecote Roman Villa is in the parish. The earliest written history of Ramsbury can be traced from the Saxon era when the bishopric of Ramsbury was created in 909 AD. The see was moved to Old Sarum in 1075.

Church of England parish church of the Holy Cross dates from the 13th century. It has a ghost story: according to local legend, if you count the hundred studs on the north door at midnight, it will open, and the ghost of 'Wild' William Darrell of Littlecote House will come out.