In March 1890 he succeeded his friend Lightfoot as bishop of Durham. The new bishop surprised the general public, which had supposed him to be a recluse and a mystic, by the practical inter est he took in the mining population of Durham and in the great shipping and artisan industries of Sunderland and Gateshead. In 1892 he procured a peaceful solution to a long and bitter coal strike. He was a staunch supporter of the co-operative move ment. He was practically the founder of the Christian Social Union, and an ardent supporter of foreign missions. His last book, Lessons from Work (1900, was dedicated to the memory of his wife, who died in that year. He preached a farewell sermon to the miners in Durham cathedral at their annual festival on July 20, and died on July 27.
The following is a bibliography of Westcott's more important writ ings, giving the date of the first editions:—Elements of the Gospel Harmony (1851) ; History of the Canon of First Four Centuries (1853) ; Characteristics of Gospel Miracles (1859) ; Introduction to the Study of the Gospels (186o) ; The Bible in the Church (1864) ; The Gospel of the Resurrection (1866) ; Christian Life Manifold and One (1869) ; Some Points in the Religious Life of the Universities (1873) ; Paragraph Psalter for the Use of Choirs (1879) ; Commentary on the Gospel of St. John 0880 ; Commentary on the Epistles of St. John
(1883) ; Revelation of the Risen Lord (1882) ; Revelation of the Father (1884) ; Some Thoughts from the Ordinal (1884) ; Christus Consum mator (1886) ; Social Aspects of Christianity (1887) ; The Victory of the Cross: Sermons in Holy Week (1888) ; Commentary on the Epistle to the Hebrews (1889) ; From Strength to Strength (I89o) ; Gospel of Life (1892) ; The Incarnation and Common Life (1893) ; Some Lessons of the Revised Version of the New Testament (1897) ; Christian Aspects of Life (1897); Lessons from Work (tgoi).
See the Life by his son B. F. Westcott (19o3), and also that by J. Clayton (1906).