The Dean of the Arches is the judge who presides in the provincial ecclesiastical court of the Archbishop of Canterbury. This court is called the Arches Court of Canterbury. It hears appeals from consistory courts and bishop's disciplinary tribunals in the province of Canterbury.
The Dean of the Arches is appointed jointly by the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Archbishop of York with the approval of the monarch signified by warrant under the sign manual. The same person presides in the Chancery Court of York where he or she has the title of Auditor and hears appeals from consistory courts and bishop's disciplinary tribunals in the province of York. The Dean of the Arches is also Official Principal of the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Archbishop of York, and acts as Master of the Faculties to the Archbishop of Canterbury.
The current dean of the Arches is Morag Ellis, who succeeded Charles George on 8 June 2020.
List of Deans of the Arches
{| class="wikitable"
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! Years!!Dean
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| 1273–||William de Middelton
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| 1297–||William de Sardinia
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| c.1346||Simon Islip (afterwards Archbishop of Canterbury, 1349)
|-
| 1350–||John de Carleton
|-
| 1441–||Zanobius Mulakyn (alias Naufer)
|-
| 1448–||William Wytham
|-
| 1504–1515||Humphrey Hawardyn
|-
| 1532–1543||Richard Gwent (died 1543) (also Archdeacon of Brecon, 1534 and Archdeacon of London, 1534) and Archdeacon of Huntingdon, 1542)
|-
| 1549–||Griffin Leyson
|-
| 1553–||John Story (afterwards MP for East Grinstead, 1553 and Bramber, 1554)
|-
| 1556–1557||David Pole (afterwards Bishop of Peterborough, 1557}
|-
| 1557–1558||Henry Cole
|-
| 1558–1559||Nicholas Harpisfield
|-
| 1559–1560||William Mowse
|-
| 1560–?1567||Robert Weston (afterwards Lord Chancellor of Ireland, 1567)
|-
| 1567–1573||Thomas Yale
|-
| 1572–||John Cooke
|-
| 1573–1589/90||Bartholomew Clerke
|-
| 1590–1597||Richard Cosin
|-
| 1597–1598||Thomas Byng
|-
| 1598–1617||Daniel Donne
|-
| 1618–1624||Sir William Bird
|-
| 1624–1633||Sir Henry Marten
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| 1633–1643||Sir John Lambe
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| c.1646||William Sammes
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| c.1647–1655||William Clerke
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| c.1658–||John Godolpin
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| c.1660||Walter Walker
|-
| c.1660||Richard Zouch
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| 1660–1672||Sir Giles Sweit
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| 1672–1684||Sir Robert Wiseman
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| 1684–1686||Sir Richard Lloyd
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| 1686–1688||Sir Thomas Exton
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| 1689–1703||George Oxendon
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| 1703–1710||Sir John Cooke
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| 1710–1751||John Bettesworth
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| 1751–1758||Sir George Lee
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| 1758–1764||Sir Edward Simpson
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| 1764–1778||Sir George Hay
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| 1778–1788||Peter Calvert
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| 1788–1809||Sir William Wynne
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| 1809–1834||Sir John Nicholl
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| 1834–1852||Herbert Jenner-Fust
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| 1852–1858||Sir John Dodson
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| 1858–1867||Stephen Lushington
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| 1867–1875||Sir Robert Phillimore
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| 1875–1898||Lord Penzance
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| 1898–1903||Sir Arthur Charles
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| 1903–1934||Sir Lewis Dibdin
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| 1934–1955||Sir Philip Wilbraham-Baker
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| 1955–1971||Sir Henry Willink
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| 1971–1972||Walter Wigglesworth
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| 1972–1976||Sir Harold Kent
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| 1977–1980||Kenneth Elphinstone
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| 1980–2000||Sir John Owen
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| 2001–2009||Sheila Cameron
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| 2009–2020||Charles George
|-
| 2020–||Morag Ellis