The
Diocese of Monmouth is a
diocese of the
Church in Wales. Despite the name, its
cathedral is located not in
Monmouth but in
Newport — the
Cathedral Church of St Woolos. Reasons for not choosing the title of Newport included the existence of a Catholic Bishop of Newport until 1916. This apparent anomaly arose in 1921 when the diocese was created (from the eastern part of the
Diocese of Llandaff) with no location for the cathedral yet chosen. Various options were being considered, such as restoring
Tintern Abbey, building from scratch on Ridgeway Hill in Newport, and (the eventual choice) upgrading St. Woolos, then a parish church; in the meantime the new diocese, as it covers more or less the territory of the
county of
Monmouth, was named the "Diocese of Monmouth". Prior to 1921 the area had been the
archdeaconry of Monmouth.