Carlisle Diocese Board of Finance Ltd

Who we are

Carlisle Diocese

Founded in 1133 and is virtually co-terminus with the county boundary of Cumbria. It encompasses all the major towns, north of Morecambe Bay up to the Scottish border and from the Irish Sea coastline to the tranquil Eden Valley as well as the Cathedral city of Carlisle with a population of nearly 110,000.

Largely rural in nature, two of the major industries are farming and tourism, with more than 15 million tourists visiting the Lake District each year. The Diocese of Carlisle is one of 42 dioceses in the Church of England and is geographically one of the larger at 2,570 square miles, though one of the most sparsely populated, with a population of about 500,000. 

As of March 2023, it consists of:

• 340 churches
• 235 parishes
• 126 clergy posts (of which 41 are self-supporting)
• 80 licensed lay ministers
• 12,500 weekly worshippers
• 104 C of E schools
• 13 academies
• 2 affiliated schools (non-Diocese of Carlisle church schools in the Good Shepherd MAT)