Type details for Rural Deanery

Type:Rural Deanery
Identifier:R_DEANERY
Number of units in system: 1521
Geographical Level: 9 (Middle-level District)
ADL Feature Type:countries, 3rd order divisions
May be part of: Archdeaconry , Diocese
May have as parts: Ecclesiastical Parish

Full Description:

From the twelfth and thirteenth centuries dioceses were divided into archdeaconries, and these were in turn divided into rural deaneries. 'Rural' was used to distinguish them from the dean and chapter of the cathedral of the diocese. The system of rural deaneries was in abeyance from the sixteenth to the early nineteenth century when it was revived. A few rural deaneries were directly parts of dioceses.