Cuthbert Killick Norman Bardsley (28 March 1907 – 9 January 1991) was an Anglican bishop and evangelist who served as Bishop of Croydon from 1947 to 1956 and Bishop of Coventry from 1956 to 1976. It was during his tenure at Coventry that the new cathedral was consecrated in 1962, following the destruction of its 14th-century predecessor during the Second World War.
Formative years
Cuthbert Bardsley was born at Ulverston in Cumbria on the 28 March 1907, the youngest of six children of a Church of England vicar, Norman Bardsley, and his wife Annie Killick. In 1909 his father became vicar of Lancaster where Bardsley spent his childhood. He came from a family steeped in the tradition of Anglicanism who, within three generations, produced 29 priests and three bishops. In addition to Bardsley, consecrated in 1947, his lineage included John Wareing Bardsley, Bishop of Carlisle (1892–95) and his uncle Cyril Bardsley, Bishop of Peterborough (1924–27).
Cuthbert was educated at Summer Fields School, Oxford and entered Eton College in 1919. At 6' 6" in height when fully grown he was a natural sportsman and Bardsley excelled at sport and showed aptitude for art. A regular attender at Eton college chapel Bardsley left Eton in 1926 ... still a nominal adherent of the Lord but far from a committed follower... At New College, Oxford, Bardsley read Modern Greats enlisting wholeheartedly in the activities of the Oxford Group, an evangelical grouping founded by Frank Buchman that called for a moral crusade into society. Ultimately Bardsley distanced himself from Buchman but throughout his years as a pastor he retained an evangelical zeal to take the Christian message into all parts of society. Oxford cemented Bardsley's belief in ...Christianity with a purpose... and by 1930 he was on a path to ordination.
Ministry
As an Anglican ordinand Bardsley attended Westcott House, Cambridge, in 1930, where the principal was Bertram Cunningham, who has been described by Archbishop Donald Coggan as "a man who probably influenced the Church of England more than other teacher this (20th) century". He was not, however, an enthusiast of the Oxford Group believing that the zealousness of some of the adherents could lead to a situation of Schism. There were tensions at Westcott during these years but Cunningham's teaching methods overcame potential rifts. Bardsley's time at Westcott House proved a happy period in his life. He was part of an influential in-take and contemporaries include: Launcelot Fleming, later Bishop of Norwich, Forbes Horan later Bishop of Tewkesbury and Geoffrey Tiarks, Bishop of Maidstone.
Whilst at Westcott House, Bardsley met Philip Clayton, known as 'Tubby', a renowned churchman and preacher who during the Great War had founded a retreat for soldiers at Poperinghe, Belgium that became famous as a sanctuary. Clayton used the symbol of a lamp to found the TocH, to promote reconciliation and work to bring disparate sections of society together particularly within cities. Clayton's living of All Hallows-by-the-Tower was in the City of London and it was to the East End of London in 1932 initially as a deacon and then upon ordination in 1933 as a curate that Bardsley first served his ministry. A conviction that he should not be forgetful of the activities of the Oxford Group remained and in 1935 he sought the permission of the Bishop of London, Arthur Winnington-Ingram to work full-time as one of their totems. His subsequent mission took him to Norway, Denmark and Switzerland as well as extensive work at home. His energetic zeal and propensity for hard work was developed during this period as the Oxford Group witnessed large attendances and dramatic conversions to the Christian faith. As the 1930s progressed though Bardsley began to harbour doubts about his involvement in the Oxford Group particularly after it became the Moral Re-Armament movement in 1938. Bardsley concluded that the movement had strayed from its founding principles of Jesus as Saviour into a more general purpose on morality and shortly after ended his formal association.