The Dean of Westminster is the head of the chapter at Westminster Abbey. Due to the Abbey's status as a Royal Peculiar, the dean answers directly to the Queen (neither to the Bishop of London as ordinary nor to the Archbishop of Canterbury as metropolitan). Initially, the office was a successor to that of abbot of Westminster, and was for the first 10 years a bishopric. The current dean is the Very Revd John Hall.
Famous quotes containing the word dean:
“Some people can stay longer in an hour than others can in a week.”
—William Dean Howells (1837–1920)