List of former cathedrals in Great Britain

This is a list of former or once proposed cathedrals in Great Britain.

Introduction
The term former cathedral in this list includes any Christian church (building) in Great Britain which has been the seat of a bishop, but is not so any longer. The status of a cathedral, for the purpose of this list, does not depend on whether the church concerned is known to have had a formal "throne" (or cathedra) nor whether a formal territory or diocese was attached to the church or bishop concerned. Before the development of dioceses, which began earlier in England than in Scotland and Wales, "such bishops as there were either lived in monasteries or were 'wandering bishops. This list, therefore, includes early "bishop's churches" (a "proto-cathedral" is similar).

A former cathedral may be the building that lost its cathedral status or its site, whether now vacant or not. The loss of status may be because that bishopric is extinct, or was relocated. Sometimes a new cathedral was built near an older one, with the older building then used for other purposes, or demolished. Such a building or site counts as a former cathedral. Where a cathedral is modified or rebuilt on substantially the same site in a series of developments over time, the earlier versions are not counted here as former cathedrals (except for cases where the original cathedral was totally rebuilt on broadly the same site but on a visibly different alignment, such as London's "Old St Paul's" and Winchester's "Old Minster" which are listed here).

A former pro-cathedral is a church or former church (or site of a former church) which was once a designated temporary cathedral officially performing that role until completion of a new cathedral built for that purpose.

A once proposed cathedral is a church that was proposed (usually by a church or civil authority) as a future cathedral but, for some reason, did not become one. Known examples will be included in this list. Sometimes a second such proposal for the same church succeeded: as long as that church retains its cathedral status it will not feature in this List.

Entries contain information drawn from other Wikipedia articles and from (cited) other sources. Some entries include (in the Name column) references to 'Site' and 'Status'. In most cases there is no doubt about the site occupied by a former cathedral, nor its status as the former seat of a bishop. In a few cases the site is unknown within a limited area ('uncertain') or over a wide area ('unknown'). In a few cases, it is not entirely clear whether the location was historically the seat of a bishop (or, for a once proposed cathedral, had been seriously considered for elevation to cathedral status). Status 'uncertain' in such cases suggests some doubt, while 'doubtful' suggests considerable doubt.

For information on current cathedrals in Great Britain please refer to: List of cathedrals in England, or List of cathedrals in Scotland, or List of cathedrals in Wales, as appropriate.

England
References are to the English church's current use or its use prior to deconsecration.

Former cathedrals founded before 1066
survivors becoming Church of England at the Reformation (1540)

Former cathedrals founded (or proposed) between 1066 and 1539
survivors becoming Church of England at the Reformation (1540)

Scotland
For various reasons, formal dioceses were formed later in Scotland than in the rest of Great Britain. Bishops certainly existed in areas from the earliest Christian times (often from Irish monastic missionary activity), but the territory over which an early (often monastic) bishop operated was ill-defined. Hence the term "bishop's church" is sometimes used for a seat used by an early bishop rather than the word "cathedral" which some expect to be attached to a formal diocese. Traditionally, the medieval Scottish diocesan system was held to have been largely created by the Norman-influenced King David I (reigned 1124–1153), though this is an oversimplification.

Nevertheless, in this List, the large number of pre-Reformation cathedrals in Scotland has been split into two sections in an attempt to make the information more manageable. The first section comprises cathedrals founded before 1100; the second, those cathedrals founded (or proposed) between 1100 and 1560. The choice of the year 1100, though arbitrary, approximates to the beginning of the reign of King David I (1124) (see above) and is also close to the date of the Norman Conquest (1066) which has been used to separate the two sections of pre-Reformation cathedrals in the portion of this List covering England.

In order to assist users of this List to trace the development of the dioceses, the text of most entries is preceded by the name (in parentheses) of the late medieval Scottish diocese into which each early cathedral merged, usually by a process of translation of the see to a new location.

As the Scottish Reformation of 1560 developed, bishops and cathedrals became progressively marginalised and neglected. By Act of the Scottish Parliament in 1690 (confirming the Church's own final decision of 1689), the Church of Scotland finally became wholly Presbyterian, with no dioceses, no bishops, so no functioning cathedrals. At that date, all cathedrals of the Church of Scotland became former cathedrals. However, some still use the title, but for honorific purposes only.

The Scottish Episcopal Church (part of the Anglican Communion) and the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland maintain their own diocesan structures with their own cathedrals and bishops.

Former cathedrals founded before 1100
survivors becoming Church of Scotland at the Scottish Reformation (1560)

Former cathedrals founded (or proposed) between 1100 and 1560
survivors becoming Church of Scotland at the Scottish Reformation (1560)

Former Post-Reformation cathedrals
During and after the Scottish Reformation (1560) cathedrals were increasingly neglected and abandoned, but episcopacy continued to be supported by Stuart Kings. By Act of the Scottish Parliament in 1690 (confirming the Church's own final decision of 1689) the Church of Scotland became wholly Presbyterian, with no dioceses, no bishops, so no cathedrals as such. At that date, all Church of Scotland cathedrals became former cathedrals. Some still use the title, but for honorific purposes only.

The Scottish Episcopal Church and the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland maintain their own diocesan structures with their own cathedrals and bishops, as do the Orthodox churches.

Church of Scotland

Scottish Episcopal Church

Wales
The end of Roman rule in Britain in the early 5th century left a Romano-British (later sometimes called "Celtic") church which became increasingly confined to the western parts of the island (principally modern Wales) as Angles, Saxons, and other invaders attacked and settled from the east. This church grew in size and influence in the west during the 6th and 7th centuries (a period sometimes characterised in Wales as "The Age of the Saints") with the conversion of ruling families (and consequently their peoples). Among the clergy, the title of "bishop" was more frequently used than later when large dioceses developed. The surviving evidence for most of these early bishoprics is now fragmentary and secondary at best, if not legendary. This list contains some better-evidenced examples.

The dioceses of the Welsh church, certainly from Norman times, were, sometimes reluctantly, part of the English church in the Province of Canterbury. This situation continued after the establishment of the Church of England at the Reformation until 1920, when the Church of England was disestablished in Wales, becoming the Church in Wales, a separate self-governing member of the Anglican Communion.

The Seven Bishop-Houses of the Kingdom of Dyfed
Collections of medieval Welsh Law record that the (early medieval) Kingdom of Dyfed had seven so-called "bishop-houses" (in Welsh, esgopty), following a general pattern of one bishop-house in each cantref. Their role is not clear, but they must have been relatively important ecclesiastical sites (with St Davids having a higher status than any of the others). Apart from the Bishop of St Davids, their heads were described as abbots, not bishops.

Whether the other six were also bishoprics, former bishoprics, burial places of saint-bishops, or staging posts in the travels of (say) the bishop of St Davids is debated. They are included here on the basis that any and all of them may well have been the seat of a bishop at some time. Details of all seven bishop-houses are given below for the sake of completeness, although St Davids has never ceased to be the seat of a bishop. The status of a bishop-house, as distinct from that of a cathedral (St Davids), seems not to have survived the ending of the Kingdom of Dyfed (in 920), even less the arrival of the Normans.

The sites identified below may not be exactly the original sites of the bishop-houses (with the probable exception of Llandeilo Llwydarth): some minor relocation over the course of centuries cannot be ruled out.

Isle of Man
While the Isle of Man is not politically part of Great Britain, but ecclesiastically it forms the Diocese of Sodor and Man in the Province of York of the Church of England, and part of the Archdiocese of Liverpool for the Roman Catholic church, so it is included on this List.

The Diocese of Sodor and Man is the English successor to the (first Norwegian, later Scottish) Diocese of Sodor or Diocese of the Isles. The English Crown seized control of the Isle of Man from Scotland during the 14th century, and the island was no longer a component of the Sudreys (the Hebrides plus the Isle of Man). From that point the Diocese of Sodor and Man was limited to the Isle of Man alone, while the Hebrides formed the Diocese of the Isles in the Scottish Church, with its cathedral no longer at Peel, Isle of Man.