From July 14th, the Church of England diocese in West Yorkshire & the Dales is now known solely by its official, legal name, The Diocese of Leeds.

The Bishop of Leeds, the Rt Revd Nick Baines, says, “Since the diocese was created in 2014, we have always legally been the Diocese of Leeds, but we were allowed to informally call ourselves 'The Diocese of West Yorkshire & the Dales’.  The experience of the past two years has shown, however, that having two names for the diocese is too confusing for people both inside and outside the Church”.

The diocese has chosen a simple logo that clearly positions it as part of the Church of England - which is particularly important as there is already a Roman Catholic Diocese of Leeds.

Other disadvantages of the name ‘West Yorkshire & the Dales’ were that, while it mostly described the region covered by the diocese (although it left out a number of places), it was too long, and the connection between the diocesan bishop and the diocese was sometimes lost. (Nick Baines is the Bishop of Leeds; there was never a Bishop of West Yorkshire & the Dales).

As dioceses have to be named after the See of the Bishop, the Diocese of Leeds is consistent with other dioceses which are named after a city but cover disparate areas.

Logos are available in various formats to download - by going to the resources page here