Cambridge Chimes

(aka The Westminster Quarters)

Is the official name for the melody sounded by bells to mark each quarter hour as well as the top of the hour when all four quarters are chimed and a single bell tolls the number of the hour.

This sequence is most famously used in the clock tower at the Palace of Westminster (Houses of Parliament) in London where the single bell tolling the hour is the actual ‘Big Ben’ – not the whole bell tower as commonly thought hence the name ‘The Westminster Quarters’.

The four note sequences derive from when a new clock by Thwaites of London was installed in St Mary the Great, the University Church in Cambridge, in 1793. It’s thought that the Revd Dr Joseph Jowett, Regius Professor of Civil Law, was asked to compose a suitable chime. What happened next is much disputed, but he may have received help from either Dr Randall, the Professor of Music at the time or from William Crotch (1775-1847). Also disputed is whether the tune is based on the fifth bar of the opening of Handel’s Aria “I know that my Redeemer liveth”.

The original clock was worn out within the century and replaced with a new one in 1892, by William Potts and Sons of Leeds.