Wilfrid Westall

Who was Wilfrid Westall?

Wilfrid Arthur Edmund Westall was an English Anglican suffragan bishop in the 20th century.

Westall was born into a clerical family. His father was the Revd A. St Leger Westal. He was a great-grandson of the artist William Westall ARA. He was educated at Merchant Taylors' School and St Chad's College, University of Durham. He was ordained in 1925 and was a curate in Birmingham and Brighton before being was appointed vicar of St Wilfrid’s Brighton. After further incumbencies at Hawnby and Shaldon he was appointed Archdeacon of Exeter and a canon residentiary of Exeter Cathedral. Late in his life he wrote The Life of the Cathedral Church of Saint Peter in Exeter. In 1954 he was ordained to the episcopate as Bishop of Crediton, a position he held until his retirement in 1974. For many years he frequently appeared on the panel of the radio programme Any Questions. He was keenly interested in railways and the nickname of "God's Wonderful Railway" for the Great Western Railway has been attributed to him.