The Prior of Christ Church was the prior

Prior

Prior is an ecclesiastical title, derived from the Latin adjective for 'earlier, first', with several notable uses.-Monastic superiors:A Prior is a monastic superior, usually lower in rank than an Abbot. In the Rule of St...

 of Christ Church Cathedral Priory in Canterbury

Canterbury

Canterbury is a historic English cathedral city, which lies at the heart of the City of Canterbury, a district of Kent in South East England. It lies on the River Stour....

, attached to Canterbury Cathedral

Canterbury Cathedral

Canterbury Cathedral in Canterbury, Kent, is one of the oldest and most famous Christian structures in England and forms part of a World Heritage Site....

.

Context

Canterbury Cathedral

Canterbury Cathedral

Canterbury Cathedral in Canterbury, Kent, is one of the oldest and most famous Christian structures in England and forms part of a World Heritage Site....

 began life as cathedral for its city, diocese and archdiocese, headed by the Archbishop of Canterbury

Archbishop of Canterbury

The Archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and principal leader of the Church of England, the symbolic head of the worldwide Anglican Communion, and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. In his role as head of the Anglican Communion, the archbishop leads the third largest group...

 and run by a Dean

Dean of Canterbury

The Dean of Canterbury is the head of the Chapter of the Cathedral of Christ Church, Canterbury, England. The office of dean originated after the English Reformation, and its precursor office was the prior of the cathedral-monastery...

. However, when the cathedral was re-formed as a monastic institution (known as Christ Church Priory

Priory

A priory is a house of men or women under religious vows that is headed by a prior or prioress. Priories may be houses of mendicant friars or religious sisters , or monasteries of monks or nuns .The Benedictines and their offshoots , the Premonstratensians, and the...

) as well as a cathedral, a Prior

Prior

Prior is an ecclesiastical title, derived from the Latin adjective for 'earlier, first', with several notable uses.-Monastic superiors:A Prior is a monastic superior, usually lower in rank than an Abbot. In the Rule of St...

 was put in charge of the monastery (with the Archbishop effectively acting as abbot). When in 1539 the monastery was dissolved

Dissolution of the Monasteries

The Dissolution of the Monasteries, sometimes referred to as the Suppression of the Monasteries, was the set of administrative and legal processes between 1536 and 1541 by which Henry VIII disbanded monasteries, priories, convents and friaries in England, Wales and Ireland; appropriated their...

 and reverted to being solely a cathedral, the prior's duties reverted to a dean

Dean (religion)

A dean, in a church context, is a cleric holding certain positions of authority within a religious hierarchy. The title is used mainly in the Anglican Communion and the Roman Catholic Church.-Anglican Communion:...

, the first of whom was Nicholas Wotton

Nicholas Wotton

Nicholas Wotton was an English diplomat-Life:He was a son of Sir Robert Wotton of Boughton Malherbe, Kent, and a descendant of Nicholas Wotton, lord mayor of London in 1415 and 1430, and member of parliament for the city from 1406 to 1429.He early became vicar of Boughton Malherbe and of Sutton...

.

List

• Henry 1080–1096
• Ernulf
  Ernulf
  Ernulf was a French Benedictine architect, and Bishop of Rochester, Kent, England.-Life:Ernulf studied under Lanfranc at the monastery of Bec, entered the Benedictine Order, and lived long as a brother in the monastery of St-Lucien, Beauvais...
  
   1096–1107
• Conrad 1108–1126
• Gosford 1126–1128
• Elmer 1128–1137
• Jeremy / Jeremiah 1137–1143
• Walter Durdens 1143–1149
• Walter Parvus 1149–1153
• Wybert 1153–1167
• Odo 1167–1175
• Benedict 1175–1177
• Harlewine 1177–1179
• Alan 1179–1186
• Honorius 1186–1189

• Roger Norris 1189–1190
• Osbern/Osbert de Bristow 1190–1191
• Geoffry (sic) 1191–1205
• John de Chatham 1205-c.1218
• Walter III c.1218–1222
• John of Sittingbourne
  John of Sittingbourne
  John of Sittingbourne was Archbishop of Canterbury-elect in 1232.John was a monk of Christ Church Priory, Canterbury, and was selected as prior of Christ Church in 1222...
  
   1222–1244
• Roger de Lee 1234–1244
• Roger de St Elphege 1263–1263
• William (or Adam) Chillenden 1264–1274
• Thomas Ringmer(e) 1274–1284
• Henry de Eastry 1285–1331
• Richard Oxinden/Oxenden 1331–1338
• Robert Hathbrand 1338–1370

• Richard Gillingham 1370–1376
• Stephen Mongeham 1376–1377
• John Fynch 1377–1391
• Thomas Chillenden
  Thomas Chillenden
  Thomas Chillenden was Prior of Christ Church Priory, Canterbury from 1391 to 1410. Under him, from 1391 to 1400, the Cathedral-Priory church's nave was rebuilt in the Perpendicular style of English Gothic architecture.-Early life:...
  
   1391–1411
• John Woodnesborough 1411–1428
• William Molash 1428–1438
• John Salisbury –1446
• John Elham 1446–1449
• Thomas Goldstone 1449–1468
• John Oxney 1468–1471
• William Petham 1471–1472
• William Sellynge 1472–1495
• Thomas Goldstone II 1495–1517
• Thomas Goldwell
  Thomas Goldwell (prior)
  Thomas Goldwell was the last prior of Christ Church Priory, Canterbury before it was dissolved in the Dissolution of the Monasteries in March 1540, entering office in 1517. During his term of office he corresponded with Thomas Cromwell about Elizabeth Barton, the "Maid of Kent"...
  
  1517–1539

Sources

• Table of priors and deans at the west end of the south aisle of Canterbury Cathedral nave. See also reference .
• Victoria County History at British History Online