Diocese of Lincoln

General information

‘I have seen the Church in Lincolnshire, and it works.’
The Most Revd and Rt Hon Rowan Williams, Archbishop of Canterbury
March 2010

The Diocese of Lincoln more or less equates to the
historic County of Lincolnshire – which still exists as the
‘ceremonial’ county with a Lord Lieutenant and High Sheriff
who serve the whole area. North Lincolnshire and North East
Lincolnshire became part of the short-lived County of
Humberside in the 1974 local government reorganisation,
and became unitary authorities in 1996.

The Diocese is a complex series of communities which can
appear culturally and economically monochrome. The reality
is very different. Whilst there are significant pockets of
affluence (especially in the south of the Diocese, which has
become popular with people commuting to London), the
issues of both rural and urban poverty are significant. The
diversity can be observed though health inequalities. For
example, a recent NHS report observed that in East Lindsey,
men from the least deprived areas can expect to live over 7
years longer than those in the most deprived areas. A similar
report in South Holland reported that women from the least
deprived areas of the District can expect to live more than 6
years longer than those in the most deprived areas.

In the two northern unitary authorities, there are significant
numbers of Super Output Areas with high levels of
deprivation, again evidenced through health inequalities. In
North East Lincolnshire, for instance, hospital stays for
alcohol related harm, drug misuse and diabetes related
illnesses, are all worse than the averages for England.