The episcopal see covers the historic county of Monmouthshire with the bishop's seat located at Newport Cathedral (commonly known as St Woolos' Cathedral) in the city of Newport. The former Church of St Woolos, which had existed in Newport since the sixth or seventh century AD, was originally the temporary seat of the Bishop when the Diocese of Monmouth was created in 1921. St Woolos was eventually raised to Cathedral status in 1949.
The bishop's residence is Bishopstow, which is in central Newport.
The Diocese of Monmouth has also produced a number of Archbishops of Wales, most notably Rowan Williams, who was subsequently appointed Archbishop of Canterbury in 2002 - believed to be the first Welsh-born bishop to hold that post since the English Reformation in the 16th century.[citation needed] He was also the Archbishop of Wales at the time of his appointment to Canterbury and was styled as "Rowan Williams, Archbishop of Wales and Bishop of Monmouth".
Previously Principal of Trinity College, Carmarthen; elected bishop on 25 January and consecrated on 23 May 1971; also was Archbishop of Wales 1983–1986; retired in the summer of 1986; died as result of a motor accident in 1987.[6]
Previously Lady Margaret Professor of Divinity at Oxford and canon of Christ Church; elected bishop on 5 December 1991 and consecrated on 1 May 1992; also was Archbishop of Wales 1999–2002; translated to Canterbury in 2002; master of Magdalene College, Cambridge 2013.[8]
^Fryde, E. B.; Greenway, D. E.; Porter, S.; Roy, I. (1986). Handbook of British Chronology (3rd ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 295. ISBN0-521-56350-X.