Somerset originally came under the authority of the
Bishop of Sherborne, but
Wells became the seat of its own
bishop of Wells from 909. King
William Rufus granted Bath to a royal physician,
John of Tours, Bishop of Wells and Abbot of Bath, who was permitted to move his episcopal seat for
Somerset from Wells to
Bath in 1090, thereby becoming the first
bishop of Bath. He planned and began a much larger church as
his cathedral, to which was attached a priory, with the bishop's palace beside it. In 1197 Bishop
Savaric FitzGeldewin officially moved his seat to
Glastonbury Abbey with the approval of
Pope Celestine III. However, the monks there would not accept their new
bishop of Glastonbury and the title of
bishop of Bath and Glastonbury was used until the Glastonbury claim was abandoned in 1219. His successor,
Jocelin of Wells, then returned to Bath, again under the title,
bishop of Bath. The official episcopal title became
bishop of Bath and Wells under a Papal ruling of 3 January 1245. By the 15th century Bath Abbey was badly dilapidated.
Oliver King, bishop of Bath and Wells, decided in 1500 to rebuild it on a smaller scale. The new abbey-church was completed just a few years before Bath Priory was dissolved in 1539. Then
Henry VIII considered this new church redundant, and it was offered to the people of Bath to form their parish church; but they did not buy it, and it was stripped of its glass and lead. The last bishop in communion with Rome was deprived in 1559 but the succession of bishops has continued to the present day. In late 2013 the
Church Commissioners announced that they were purchasing the
Old Rectory, a Grade II-listed building in
Croscombe for the bishop's residence. However this decision was widely opposed, including by the diocese, and in May 2014 was overturned by a committee of the
Archbishops' Council. The diocese and the episcopate are today part of the
Anglican Communion. ==List of bishops==