The new Dean of Exeter Cathedral is to be Revd Arwen Mary Folkes, Downing Street has announced.
Revd Folkes, who is the first woman Dean in the Cathedral’s 970-year history, was born in Barnstaple in North Devon and was baptised in Bideford, before growing up at the Lizard Lighthouse in Cornwall where her father was one of the last live-in lighthouse keepers for Trinity House. She also spent part of her childhood at lighthouses on the North Devon coast.
She is currently Vicar of St Mary-the-Virgin, Eastbourne. She is married to William, and the couple have three children.
She said: “It seems I have been entrusted with a new lighthouse, and a rather bigger one this time!
“I was born in Barnstaple while my father was a lighthouse keeper on the North Devon coast, so coming to Exeter feels very much like coming home.
“I have always believed a church should be like a lighthouse: steady, watchful and ready to shine for anyone caught in a storm.
“Exeter Cathedral has been that kind of Christ-light for centuries, through many seasons, and I am honoured and humbled to be called as one of her ‘keepers’ by serving as the 72nd Dean.
“Most of all, I am looking forward to meeting, praying and serving with the people who already keep her light burning, the communities across Devon, and working hard to ensure the Cathedral can shine as the mother church for Exeter and the whole county.”
Before ordination, Arwen founded and ran Real Baby Milk, a Cornish social enterprise, and served as an elected district councillor in Cornwall.
She trained for ministry at Westcott House, Cambridge, gaining a BA (Hons) and MA from Durham University.
She served her curacy in Cornwall, at St Just in Roseland, after which she joined the Diocese of Chichester, serving in Seaford, before becoming Vicar of Eastbourne.
The Bishop of Exeter, the Right Revd Dr Mike Harrison, said: “I am delighted to welcome Arwen to Exeter Cathedral as our 72nd Dean and the historic first woman Dean of Exeter.
“Arwen has her roots firmly in the South West, and knows Cornwall and Devon well as a result of her coastal upbringing and working and living in the region for so many years.
“The only question will be how she has her jam and cream!
“She brings a wealth of experience from her working life, both in and out of the church, and understands how the Cathedral is called to be a place of hospitality, Christian witness, and outreach as well as a servant of the whole of the County.
“I look forward to working with Arwen on the Pray, Grow Serve 2035 vision of the Diocese and indeed to having Arwen and her family as near neighbours.”
The Right Revd Will Hazlewood, Bishop of Lewes and Acting Bishop of Chichester and a former parish priest in Devon, said: “We will be very sorry to see Arwen depart the Diocese, but are also delighted that the wider Church will benefit from her many gifts that have been so evident through her time with us.
“I know that Arwen will bring to the Cathedral and Diocese of Exeter the same faithfulness, evangelistic flare, compassion and strength of leadership that have characterised her ministry among us, and I assure her of our ongoing prayers as she prepares to take up this new exciting calling.”
The Very Revd Stephen Waine, Interim Dean of Exeter, said: “I am delighted that Arwen Folkes is to be the next Dean of Exeter, and I look forward to working with her as we begin to develop the next part of the story of Exeter Cathedral.
“She will bring new insights and an enthusiasm for ministry within and beyond the Cathedral, and I look forward to supporting her as she begins her ministry here and in the Diocese. The ministry of the Dean is central to the Cathedral’s life as a place of prayer and meeting for the people of the city, the county of Devon and the Diocese of Exeter, and Arwen brings experience, joy and enthusiasm for the gospel as she begins her ministry amongst us.”
Arwen will be installed as the new Dean at Exeter Cathedral on Sunday 9 May 2027.
On Tuesday 10 November she will be meeting staff at Exeter Cathedral, as well as congregants at Evensong at 5:30pm.
Please pray for Arwen and her family as they prepare to join the communities of Exeter Cathedral and the Diocese of Exeter in 2027.
Ten arrested following warrants linked to suspected drug network
Appeal after jewellery taken during Dawlish break-in
Check before you travel: Evening service changes between Yeovil Junction and Exeter St Davids for vital engineering work
Keeping pace with the rise of e-bikes and e-scooters
Natural England chief executive visits Clyst Meadows to see pioneering approach to protecting wildlife
Devon Youth Folk Ensemble Invited to Perform at Music for Youth Proms at the Royal Albert Hall
Post Office set to reopen
Exeter College’s new RISE Centre opens to support learners with SEND
Public invited to give their view on measures to support the endorsed Dryden Road changes
Council urged to stop getting rid of its parks and toilets
Devon Remembers
Exeter is one of the best authorities in country for waste reduction
Anger over Newton Abbot market hall delays
Traffic bulletin from Wales & West Utilities - Queen Street, Exeter
Thomas Hall Students Support Local Food Bank with Donations
Exeter-led £20 million hub will create ten brain health clinics to help NHS reduce dementia risk
