The Very Reverend Alec Knight
Dean of Lincoln who restored calm after his predecessor’s belligerence was denounced as ‘a scandal’
THE VERY REVEREND ALEC KNIGHT, who has died aged 84, was Dean of Lincoln from 1998 to 2006, having spent the previous eight years as Archdeacon of Basingstoke and a Canon of Winchester Cathedral.
At Lincoln, Knight was appointed to usher in a new era of peace and harmony after the tempestuous tenure of his predecessor Brandon Jackson, who had engaged in open warfare with his own Chapter, creating what the Archbishop of Canterbury, George Carey, described as “a scandal which has dishonoured the name of the Lord”.
The dispute became so bitter that the Bishop of Lincoln, Robert Hardy, refused to conduct services in his own cathedral. Jackson was also accused (and acquitted) of sexual misconduct with a recently dismissed female verger, and he claimed that evil spirits emanated from the medieval carving of the Lincoln Imp. He was finally persuaded to resign in 1997, when Knight was brought in to turn things around.
It was not all plain sailing, however, and those given to omens wondered what was in store when on his first Sunday at Lincoln a fire alarm necessitated the evacuation of the cathedral during the main morning service.
He overcame initial suspicion from his new colleagues, but if he had a better relationship with the Chapter than his predecessor, he had a more difficult time with the cathedral musicians.
Discord broke out in 2002 over an attempt by the Chapter to replace the Organist and Master of the Choristers, Colin Walsh, one of the finest organists of his generation, with a new “director of music” having responsibilities at both the cathedral and the Minster School. Aric Prentice took over in January 2003, while Walsh stayed on with the title “Organist Laureate”. Knight declared that “people need to put aside whatever differences they have had, and recognise what has been decided is for the good of the Church. It is time to move on.”
In 2005 he rode out more controversy, including a protest on grounds of blasphemy led by a 61-year-old nun, after the Dean and Chapter allowed scenes of Dan Brown’s The Da Vinci Code with Tom Hanks to be filmed in the nave, chapter house and cloister. Ever pragmatic, Knight reflected: “The world doesn’t often give the Christian Church an opportunity on a plate to engage in speaking about the Gospel.”
He described the book as “balderdash”, though “a jolly good read”, and was open about the fact that the cathedral was being compensated with a £100,000 donation.
Thanks to these and other innovations, by the time Knight stepped down he had undone much of the damage of the Jackson years and the cathedral finances were back in the black, with income growing thanks to the success of the cathedral shop, cafe, concerts, entry fees and special services.
Knight’s efforts did not go unnoticed: the University of Lincoln made him an honorary Doctor of Letters, and in 2000 Queen Elizabeth II visited the cathedral during Holy Week for distribution of the Maundy money. On retirement from the deanery Knight was appointed OBE.
The cathedral stonemasons paid a more lasting tribute: 140 feet up on the “Dean’s Eye” rose window in the north crossing transept they carved Knight’s face in stone, surrounded by foliated scrolls, smiling gently and giving a wink.
Alexander Francis Knight was born on July 24 1939, a son of the parsonage. Educated at Taunton School, he went on to St Catherine’s College, Cambridge, and from there to Wells Theological College. He was ordained in 1963 and served his curacy in Hemel Hempstead, having met and married Sheelagh Faris.
In 1968 he returned to Taunton as chaplain, leaving in 1975 to oversee the training of school chaplains as director of the Bloxham Project. In 1981 he became director of studies for the Aston Training Scheme for ministry candidates; he moved to the diocese of Winchester two years later to serve as priest-in-charge of Easton and Martyr Worthy. In 1990 he was made Archdeacon of Basingstoke, becoming a Canon Residentiary of Winchester Cathedral in 1991, holding both offices until he went to Lincoln.
He returned south in retirement, to Whiteparish on the outskirts of Salisbury. Having been a governor of Marlborough College and a member of the General Synod’s Education Board, he was an obvious candidate to chair the trustees of Sarum College, in the cathedral close.
When Knight took up the position in 2007 its affairs were in a bad way; as at Lincoln, he proved to be a steady hand, and by the time he stepped down in 2016 things looked more hopeful. He also served as Dean of the Order of St John, becoming a Knight of Justice and a recipient of the order’s Cross of Merit.
With his reputation for logical thinking and pragmatism, long into old age Knight’s advice was sought, often in the context of two of his great loves, wine and the garden.
Alec Knight is survived by his wife Sheelagh and their four children.
The Very Rev Alec Knight, born July 24 1939, died November 21 2023