Five years ago the Bishop of Chichester Dr Eric Kemp asked two of his colleagues to keep an eye on his performance.

He instructed them to tell him if they spotted any signs that he was "failing to meet the demands of office." They never did.

But now, at the age of 85, Dr Kemp has finally decided to step down and leave the Chichester Diocese in a new pair of hands and he has already started writing his memoirs.

Although his views on woman priests are likely to dominate the book, he has 27 years' experience in the diocese to draw upon.

Churchgoers across the county will receive a final message from the Bishop who will attend a farewell event at Worth Abbey tomorrow.

It will contain only a fleeting and veiled reference to his trenchant and deeply-held convictions that the ordination of women into the Anglican priesthood should not have been allowed.

Instead, Dr Kemp is expected to tell the clergy and the people sitting in the pews that different outlooks and strongly-held convictions should not get in the way of caring for Sussex and the presentation of the gospel.

Some say Dr Kemp stayed in office too long but many Christians in Sussex believe the last 27 years have brought the diocese stability during some turbulent times for the Church of England.

Dr Kemp has been able to retire when he felt the time was right because he was appointed in 1974, well before a ruling which now means bishops have to step down at 70.

His successor is to be John Hinde, a former Bishop of Horsham who has also worked in Chichester where he was principal of the city's theological college.

Speaking at his office inside the Bishop's Palace, Dr Kemp readily acknowledged there were people who believed he should have stepped down earlier.

He said: "I am sure there are some people who think that but most people I speak to have been grateful I stayed on.

"From 1985, great uncertainty developed in the Church of England and I felt I ought to stay on as long as I was capable of doing the job to hold things together."

The principle source of that uncertainty was the ordination of women into the priesthood, of which Dr Kemp has been a leading opponent.

He has refused to ordain women personally but he points out that he has ordained all the women working as deacons.

His opposition stems from his belief that women priests would be an impediment to any future merger between the Roman Catholic and Anglican churches.

He believes it has damaged the cause of Christian unity and now doubts that he will see one church in his lifetime.

He said: "The divisions will continue within the church but he have managed to grow together sufficiently for it not to harm the diocese, for which I am grateful.

"There are many people in the diocese and the church in general who say that simply by being here I have been a stabilising factor."

Dr Kemp said he would not just like to be remembered as the bishop who opposed the ordination of women.

Asked to list achievements, he is proud of setting up support schemes for parishes and improving communications between the clergy, himself and the bishops of Lewes and Horsham.

He speaks with obvious enjoyment of a recent event, Walking the Way, when he and two other bishops spent four days attached to deaneries within the diocese.

Dr Kemp went back to grass roots by spending his time in Brighton and Hove, meeting churchgoers and confirming 180 people.

He also set aside Sundays throughout the year as part of his attempt to visit as many of the 391 parishes and 516 churches as possible although he doubted that he managed every single one.

He said reports of falling numbers in congregations were not borne out by his tours of the diocese. He said: "A lot of people say to me they do not understand it.

"What is happening may give the wrong impression because there has been a change in the pattern of church going with fewer people going regularly every Sunday but more people worshipping on weekdays."

He said the recent reopening of a church, which had been closed at Stone Cross in the east of the diocese, to cater for a growing population was a positive sign.

As he prepares for retirement on Wednesday, Dr Kemp said there were only a few things he would miss about living and working in the Bishop's Palace, one would be the lack of space he will have his large collection of books.

He will be moving from a sprawling "cold and draughty" building, parts of which date back to the 13th Century, for a "cosy and warm" house. He has decided to stay in Chichester.

He and his wife Patricia, who have five children, had to install an elaborate intercom system inside the palace to keep in touch and she once lamented not living in a warm and sunny vicarage.

Staying in the city will mean Mrs Kemp can continue her job at the city's Festival Theatre where she runs a front-of-house shop, sells ice creams and often shows people to their seats.

Dr Kemp is not certain which of three churches near his new home will become his place of worship but says the parish priest who spots him sitting in the pews on a Sunday should not find it daunting.

He has made it clear he will stay away from the cathedral, which has been at the heart of diocesan life for the last 900 years.

He said simply that he does not want his successor to feel "embarrassed or to be looking over his shoulder" and he will not attend services there for at least 12 months.

However, he will break that rule to be at the cathedral for the enthronement of his successor even though it is an event which retiring bishops do not normally attend.

In an innovation for Sussex and probably as a mark of respect which churchgoers may well applaud, Dr Kemp has been specifically asked by his successor to hand over the pastoral staff he has held with distinction for 26 years.