OK - in the UK we have the Church of England, Church of Wales, Church of Scotland, all members of the Anglican church. Each region is divided into areas called dioceses. Each diocese has a bishop. The bishop sits in the cathedral which is the principal or mother church of the diocese. He sits on the bishop's or episcopal throne. Cathedral is from the Latin cathedra meaning chair. There are also two Archbishops, the senior in the south at Canterbury and the junior in the north at York. A collegiate church is an important church served by a college of canons (priests) not a single priest & doesn't have a bishop. ... Elizabeth Now I must reveal my considerable ignorance of things English. What is the difference between a Cathedral and a church? I thought a cathedral was just a big church but it appears that there is more to it. Thanks, Ruth And from an earlier reply: --- it was the mother parish church, to be precise the collegiate and parish church. What exactly is or was a collegiate church. The dictionary definitions are not much help. My g grandfather was the proprietor of a collegiate school. How does this differ from an ordinary school? Cheers, Graham