The City of Bristol, of which Clifton is a suburb, is the largest centre of population within the Diocese; Swindon is the next biggest.

Other well-known cities and towns include Bath, Wells, Cheltenham, Gloucester, Salisbury, Taunton, Shepton Mallet and Weston-super-Mare.

[2] These pastoral areas comprise the following parishes:[3] The English Reformation suppressed the Catholic hierarchy in England by the mid-16th century.

In 1622 the Sacred Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith created an apostolic vicariate for the whole of England, which was divided into four districts in 1688.

He also re-purchased Prior Park and re-opened the school and the seminary, much of the expense being found by the bishop's family.

An outstanding scholar, he was an authority on ancient manuscripts and catalogued the documents which now form the basis of the Diocesan Archives.

His successor, Bishop Joseph Rudderham, a priest of the Diocese of Northampton, was consecrated at Clifton on 26 July 1949.

The financial demands made on the people of the diocese to provide new schools to comply with the provisions of the Education Act 1944 resulted in expenditure of £332,000 between 1949 and 1960.

On the Feast of Saints Peter and Paul, 1973, in the presence of a vast gathering of religious and civic dignitaries, Bishop Rudderham took possession of the current Clifton Cathedral.

The ninth bishop was the Right Reverend Declan Lang, who was born on 15 April 1950 in Cowes, Isle of Wight.