Decline of English bishops? (3)
I believe the answer is:
ebb
'decline' is the definition.
(ebb is a kind of decline)
'english bishops?' is the wordplay.
'english' becomes 'e' (abbreviation).
'bishops?' becomes 'bb' (I've seen this in other clues).
'e'+'bb'='EBB'
'of' is the link.
(Other definitions for ebb that I've seen before include "Fall back" , "(Sea) recede" , "recession" , "Tidal retreat" , "Withdraw heartless" .)