On 31 October 2002, he retired, resigning the See of Canterbury, and the next day was created a life peer as Baron Carey of Clifton, "of Clifton in the City and County of Bristol", meaning that he remained a member of the House of Lords, where he sat as a crossbencher. He was succeeded as archbishop by Rowan Williams. Living in the Diocese of Oxford, until 2017 Carey served there as an honorary assistant bishop, as is customary for retired bishops.