The Dean of the Arches is the judge who presides in the provincial ecclesiastical court of the Archbishop of Canterbury. This court is called the Arches Court of Canterbury. It hears appeals from consistory courts and bishop's disciplinary tribunals in the province of Canterbury.
The Dean of the Arches is appointed jointly by the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Archbishop of York with the approval of the monarch signified by warrant under the sign manual.Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction and Care of Churches Measure 2018, section 10 The same person presides in the Chancery Court of York where he or she has the title of Auditor and hears appeals from consistory courts and bishop's disciplinary tribunals in the province of York. The Dean of the Arches is also Official Principal of the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Archbishop of York, and acts as Master of the Faculties to the Archbishop of Canterbury.Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction and Care of Churches Measure 2018, section 23
The current dean of the Arches is Morag Ellis, who succeeded Charles George on 8 June 2020.
List of Deans of the Arches YearsDean 1273–William de Middelton Google Books 1297–William de Sardinia 1308–John de Ross (?afterwards Bishop of Carlisle, 1325) 1322–?1323John de Stratford (afterwards Bishop of Winchester, 1323) 1333John de Ufford c.1346Simon Islip (afterwards Archbishop of Canterbury, 1349) 1350–John de Carleton 1360–William de Wittersley 1364–Thomas Young 1376–John Barner 1381–Thomas de Baketon, Appointed by Archbishop Courteney (Baketon/Bakton/Bacton/Bactone and variants) Likely a member of the Mynyot/Minot family that included Thomas Minot, Archbishop of Dublin who died in London 1375 (research ongoing) 1407–Richard Brinkley 1415–Henry Ware 1419–John Stafford afterwards Archdeacon of Salisbury, 1419) 1423–Thomas Beckington (also Archdeacon of Buckingham, 1424–1443 and afterwards Bishop of Bath and Wells, 1443} 1426–William Lyndwood (also Archdeacon of Stow, 1434) 1434–1440John LyndfeldSusan Cavanaugh, A Study of Books Privately Owned in England 1300–1450 (University of Pennsylvania, 1980), Ph.D. Dissertation, p. 517. 1441–Zanobius Mulakyn (alias Naufer) 1448–William Wytham (also Dean of Wells, 1469–1472) 1452–Zanobius Mulakyn (alias Naufer) 1453–1454Richard Leyte 1454–William Spaldyng 1469–John Boteler 1474–John Morton (cardinal), afterwards Bishop of Ely, 1478 and Archbishop of Canterbury, 1486Worcestershire Archive and Archaeology Service, Register of John Carpenter, bishop of Worcester, 2 vols, II, fol.53. This source is open to question, however, as the text simply describes Morton as rector of St Dunstan-in-the-East in the deanery of the arches; it does not actually call him the dean. There are no other known references to Morton as dean. 1504–1515Humphrey Hawardyn c.1511 Richard Bodewell also known as Blodwell 1520–1522Thomas Wodynton ?–1532Peter Ligham 1532–1543Richard Gwent (died 1543) (also Archdeacon of Brecon, 1534 and Archdeacon of London, 1534) and Archdeacon of Huntingdon, 1542) 1543–1545John Cock (or Cockys) 1545–William Coke or Cooke (1st lay dean) 1549–Griffin Leyson 1553–John Story (afterwards MP for East Grinstead, 1553 and Bramber, 1554) 1556–1557David Pole (afterwards Bishop of Peterborough, 1557} 1557–1558Henry Cole 1558–1559Nicholas Harpisfield 1559–1560William Mowse 1560–?1567Robert Weston (afterwards Lord Chancellor of Ireland, 1567) 1567–1573Thomas Yale 1572–John Cooke 1573–1589/90Bartholomew Clerke 1590–1597Richard Cosin 1597–1598Thomas Byng 1598–1617Daniel Donne 1618–1624Sir William Bird 1624–1633Sir Henry MartenThe Dictionary of National Biography in its first edition had Hugh Barker Dean c.1632; see- ; but this was retracted in the 1904 Errata. 1633–1643Sir John Lambe c.1646William Sammes c.1647–1655William Clerke c.1658–John Godolpin c.1660Walter Walker c.1660Richard Zouch 1660–1672Sir Giles Sweit 1672–1684Sir Robert Wiseman 1684–1686Sir Richard Lloyd 1686–1688Sir Thomas Exton 1689–1703George Oxenden 1703–1710Sir John Cooke 1710–1751John BettesworthYourArchives page . 1751–1758Sir George Lee 1758–1764Sir Edward Simpson 1764–1778Sir George Hay 1778–1788Peter Calvert 1788–1809Sir William Wynne 1809–1834Sir John Nicholl 1834–1852Herbert Jenner-Fust 1852–1858Sir John Dodson 1858–1867Stephen Lushington 1867–1875Sir Robert Phillimore 1875–1898Lord Penzance 1898–1903Sir Arthur Charles 1903–1934Sir Lewis Dibdin 1934–1955Sir Philip Wilbraham-Baker 1955–1971Sir Henry Willink 1971–1972Walter Wigglesworth 1972–1976Sir Harold Kent 1977–1980Kenneth Elphinstone 1980–2000Sir John Owen 2001–2009Sheila Cameron 2009–2020Charles George 2020–Morag Ellis
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