The Rt Rev Timothy Dudley Smith, hymn writer and former Bishop of Thetford, has died at the age of 97. 

Among the hymns he wrote lyrics for are Tell Out, My Soul (1962), and Lord, for the Years (1967). 

Born in Manchester on Boxing Day 1926, the young Dudley-Smith attended Tonbridge School in Kent, before studying at Pembroke College, Cambridge. 

He was ordained as a deacon in 1950, before being ordained into priesthood the following year. From 1973 to 1981 he served as Archdeacon of Norwich, before becoming Bishop of Thetford, where he remained in post until his retirement in 1991. 

In 2003, Dudley-Smith was awarded an OBE for services to hymnody. 

Close friend and Premier Christian Radio presenter, Noel Tredinnick, described him as "persistent in his writing of hymns - one a month!".

"His hymns are always beautifully constructed, beautifully expressed," Tredinnick added. "That's why he was one of the greatest English poets."