New evidence exposes Church of England slavery links

Fresh historical evidence has revealed the depth of the Church of England’s involvement in Britain’s transatlantic slave trade, intensifying a debate over whether its existing reparative efforts go far enough.

A newly digitised register identifies 45 C of E clergymen who invested in slave trading, including figures who helped finance the Royal African Company, which trafficked more enslaved Africans than any other single organisation.

Church wealth was tied to the slave trade

The evidence emerged as Archbishop of Canterbury Sarah Mullally visited Cape Coast Castle in Ghana, where abolitionist Ottobah Cugoano was enslaved as a child. After seeing the dungeons beneath its chapel, Mullally reaffirmed the church’s “journey of repentance”.

Historians say the financial links ran deep. Clergy investments helped fund hundreds of voyages and the Royal African Company’s 1720 relaunch, while profits from slavery filtered into British communities through bequests and institutional wealth.

Codrington exposes the brutality

The church’s historic involvement extended beyond investment. The Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, predecessor to the United Society Partners in the Gospel, supplied chaplains to the Royal African Company and controlled the Codrington estate in Barbados, where enslaved Africans were branded, beaten and subjected to brutal working conditions.

After abolition, the organisation and at least 96 clergy who had enslaved people received compensation for the loss of what was legally classified as property.

£100m fund faces fresh scrutiny

The Church of England launched Project Spire in 2023, a £100m impact investment fund aimed at communities affected by the legacies of slavery. But historians including Alan Lester argue that its focus on the South Sea Company represents only a fraction of the church’s historic involvement.

The initiative has faced internal opposition and a legal challenge, while church officials insist it is funded from commissioners’ income rather than parish collections.

Ottobah Cugoano

Calls for deeper reckoning grow

Historians and campaigners argue the public remains unaware of the scale of Anglican involvement. They point to figures including Cugoano, whose 1787 writings called for national repentance, alongside enslaved Christian leaders who helped drive the abolitionist cause.

For critics of the church’s current approach, the debate is no longer simply about historic guilt but how that history shaped modern Britain — and what responsibility institutions benefiting from that wealth carry today.

Fresh evidence of C of E’s role in enslavement uncovered as church wrestles with reparations debate