He then felt drawn to overseas missionary work; unable to do so immediately because of wartime travel restrictions, he obtained a teaching qualification at London University.

In 1945, with the ending of World War II, he moved to Mukono, Uganda, as a missionary working in theological education.

[7] He then served as Bishop of Winchester until his retirement on 28 February 1985,[8] succeeding Falkner Allison, an old-fashioned Evangelical much-loved by all parties within the diocese.

He was the first priest to be consecrated directly to the See of Winchester since William Day in 1595, and was respected throughout the diocese and beyond mainly by liberals and modernists, but failed to gain the trust of Anglo-Catholics.

When first consecrated, he initially caused some amusement by refusing to wear a mitre and ordering that it be carried in front of him on a cushion in processions.