The first service North of the
Orange River to be taken by an Anglican clergyman was conducted in 1850 by †
Robert Gray, the first
Bishop of Cape Town. In 1863,
Edward Twells was consecrated the first Bishop of the Orange Free State and the Diocese was born. This new Diocese covered the area North of the
Orange River, West of the
Drakensberg and as far as the
Zambezi River in the North. The bishop arrived in Bloemfontein on 1 October 1863, with three priests and two teachers.
George Mitchell was the first priest ordained in the Diocese, in 1865. The cathedral was completed and consecrated in 1866. The
Brotherhood of St Augustine of Hippo was established in the diocese a year later with Canon Beckett and seven members. Together they built the first Anglican church in
Thaba Nchu, completed in 1868. This pioneering community established the Church's work in Thaba Nchu and in places as far apart as
Wepener and
Harrismith and continued faithfully from their house at
Modderpoort until their work was taken over by the
Society of the Sacred Mission in 1902. This was repeated again in 1950 with the formation of the
Anglican Diocese of Lesotho (then, Basutoland) and in 1952, with the founding of the Anglican
Diocese of Matabeleland. In 2003 the diocese changed its name to the Diocese of the Free State. The seat of the diocese is in
Bloemfontein in
South Africa. == Archdeaconries ==