Nicola Sullivan
Nicola Ann Sullivan (born 15 August 1958) is a British Church of England priest who served as Dean of Southwell from 2016 to 2024. Before that, she was Archdeacon of Wells (2007–2016).
She grew up in Suffolk. She trained as a nurse in 1981 and as a midwife in 1984, and worked in the UK as well as for Tearfund in Swaziland and Ethiopia. She studied for ordained ministry at Wycliffe Hall, Oxford, and earned a Bachelor of Theology in 1995. She was ordained deacon in 1995 and priest in 1996.
Her early ministry included a curacy at St Anne’s, Earlham near Norwich, followed by being Associate Vicar at Bath Abbey from 1999. She became bishop’s chaplain in 2002, Sub-Dean of Wells Cathedral in 2003, and Archdeacon of Wells and Canon Residentiary in 2007, overseeing about 200 parishes in eastern Somerset.
In 2013 she was elected as a regional representative to the House of Bishops for the South West, attending meetings with speaking rights but no vote. She stepped down from that role in 2016 after women bishops were appointed.
On 4 April 2016 it was announced that she would become Dean of Southwell, and she was installed on 17 September 2016 at Southwell Minster. She stepped down as dean in 2024, with a farewell service at Southwell Cathedral on 29 September.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 20:49 (CET).