[9] He held permission to officiate in the Diocese of Oxford from 1975 to 1977,[6] and served his curacy at St Andrew's Headington where he was ordained deacon.

[14] During his incumbency, the Cathedral opened up choristerships to girls as a separate top line in the choir on an equal basis to the boy choristers.

He was instrumental in initiating a major development project "Open Treasure", a reconfiguring of the historic spaces round the cloister as an interpretation of the North East's Christian heritage.

He played a significant part in bringing the Lindisfarne Gospels back to their historic home for a three-month residency in Durham during 2013.

Sadgrove briefly achieved national prominence in the same year when he wrote an open letter questioning the political attitudes of the then manager of Sunderland FC, Paulo di Canio.

[7] He lives in Northumberland where he continues to be engaged in theological writing and speaking, church matters, European issues, arts and heritage, and the culture of North East England.