Dean of Durham

The Dean of Durham is the "head" (primus inter pares – first among equals) and chair of the Chapter, the ruling body of Durham Cathedral. The dean and chapter are based at the Cathedral Church of Christ, Blessed Mary the Virgin and St Cuthbert of Durham in Durham. The cathedral is the mother church of the Diocese of Durham and seat of the Bishop of Durham. The dean was also previously the head (warden) of Durham University until 1909, and continues to be an ex officio member of the university council.^[1]

Durham Cathedral

The dean's official residence is the Deanery, excluding episcopal palaces the largest residence in the Church of England,^[2] which adjoins the cathedral cloister and faces onto the cathedral college.^[3]

List of deans

Early modern 1541–1551 Hugh Whitehead (last prior) 1551–1553 Robert Horne 1553–1558 Thomas Watson 1558–1559 Thomas Robertson (deprived) [4] 1559–1561 Robert Horne (again) 1561–1563 Ralph Skinner 1563–1579 William Whittingham 1580–1581 Thomas Wilson (Lay dean) 1583–1595 Tobias Matthew 1596–1606 William James 1606–1620 Adam Newton (Lay dean) 1620–1638 Richard Hunt 1639–1645 Walter Balcanquhall 1646 Christopher Potter 1646–1659 William Fuller 1660–1661 John Barwick 1661–1684 John Sudbury 1684–1690 Denis Granville 1691–1699 Thomas Comber 1700–1728 John Montague

1728–1746 Henry Bland 1746–1774 The Hon Spencer Cowper 1774–1777 Thomas Dampier 1777–1788 William Digby 1788–1794 John Hinchliffe Late modern 1794–1824 The Hon James Cornwallis (The Earl Cornwallis from 1823) 1824–1827 Charles Hall 1827–1840 John Jenkinson 1840–1869 George Waddington (also Warden of the University from 1862) 1869–1894 William Lake (also Warden of the University) 1894–1912 George Kitchin (also Warden of the University until 1909) 1912–1918 Hensley Henson 1918–1933 James Welldon 1933–1951 Cyril Alington 1951–1974 John Wild 1974–1979 Eric Heaton 1980–1988 Peter Baelz[5] 1989–2002 John Arnold 2003–2015 Michael Sadgrove 2016–2022 Andrew Tremlett[6][7] 2023–present Philip Plyming[8][9]