THE Archbishop of York is hanging up his mitre after almost a decade in high office to go back to his roots as a parish priest at a church on the slopes of Ilkley Moor.

Dr David Hope, the second most powerful person in the Church of England, will leave Bishopthorpe Palace next February to become vicar of St Margaret's Church, at Ilkley.

News of his departure has swiftly been followed by speculation over possible successors, with The Times suggesting today that Dr Michael Mazir-Ali, currently Bishop of Rochester, could become the Church's first archbishop of Asian origin.

Other favourites are said to include the Bishop of Liverpool, the Right Rev James Jones, and the Bishop of Exeter, the Right Revnd Michael Langrish.

But Dr Hope would not be drawn into speculation, saying: "We'll just have to hope and pray."

Dr Hope, who will turn 65 next year and is chairman of the school governors at Archbishop Holgate's School, in York, announced yesterday that the Queen had accepted his resignation, and his formal duties as bishop and archbishop were expected to cease in mid-January. The Archbishop, who made a brief appearance at St Margaret's yesterday, expects to take up his new appointment in early March, taking a pay cut from around £50,000 to £18,000. He will swap the grandeur of Bishopthorpe Palace for a small and modest vicarage in Ilkley.

Dr Hope said it had been the call of God to return to full-time parish ministry in his native West Yorkshire.

"I shall be very sad to leave York, it is a fine, lively, forward-looking city," he said.

"I have been privileged to have been involved in work in York, not least in education.

"My finest memory was on the eve of the new Millennium, when the Minster was packed out and when the doors opened there were huge crowds waiting in Duncombe Place.

"There have also been tragic moments with the Great Heck train disaster and the floods of 2000."

Dr Hope moved to York after five years as Bishop of London, after previously serving as Bishop of Wakefield.

The Bishop of Hull, the Right Rev Richard Frith, said: "All of us throughout the Diocese of York will miss David's warmth, wisdom, guidance and encouragement, and not least his great sense of humour."

The Bishop of Bradford, the Right Rev David James, said: "I am thrilled that the Archbishop will be coming to St Margaret's Iklkey and to the Diocese of Bradford. He brings with him a deep spirituality, a breadth of experience and a wealth of Yorkshire humour and down-to-earth common sense.

"Although he will be a parish priest again, and most of his time will be spent ministering to the people of Ilkley, I shall also value his wise counsel."

Updated: 10:38 Monday, August 02, 2004