Carnival 2008 - Fairy Tales
Carnival Opener - The Right Reverend Graeme Knowles
The Priory Church in Dunstable played a vital part in Graeme’s formation. Having joined the church choir aged 8, he was soon capturing the unsuspecting visitor and giving them a full, and sometimes rather lengthy, tour of the building! It was here, too, that successive curates and rectors fostered his vocation to the priesthood. But it was at Edlesborough where Graeme, still a teenager, preached his first sermon and at Eaton Bray School, where Graeme’s father, Stan, was head teacher. It was also at church that he met Susan, his wife, then a member of the Priory congregation and a teacher.
After college in London and Canterbury, Graeme was ordained to a curacy in Broadstairs. This was followed by jobs in Leeds and Portsmouth, before he was made Archdeacon of Portsmouth in 1993. In 1999 he was made Dean of Carlisle. 2003 saw him moving to the Isle of Man as Lord Bishop, where he was also, by virtue of his office, a member of the island’s parliament, the Tynwald. Since October 2007 he has been Dean of St Paul’s Cathedral in London.
