By Tim Milner, Darwin College, Ceremonial Officer and Pro-Proctor for Ceremonial
Frankly amazing after 50 years
The University that has seen some lengthy tenures of office – the 6th Duke of Somerset was Chancellor for almost sixty years – but at the present time it is hard to imagine holding the same role even after fifty, but Dr Frank King, University Bellringer and Keeper of the Clock at the University Church, achieved that in April. A Fellow of Churchill College and an alumnus of Magdalene, Frank King is a former Senior Lecturer in Computer Science and has served twice as Proctor, on the nomination of Magdalene and later of Churchill, for 2006-7.
The duties Frank is still performing after half a century include arranging ringing to mark certain Royal anniversaries and University occasions. These include the Congregation early on the first weekday in October to mark the start of the new academic year with the election by the Regent House of the Proctors and their Deputies for the year, followed by the swearing-in of their University Constables and finally by an address from the Vice-Chancellor. Other occasions requiring special ringing are the anniversary of the Sovereign’s accession, the Sovereign’s birthday, the birthday of the Prince of Wales, the annual Congregation for the conferment of Honorary Degrees, University Sermons, Remembrance Sunday and the Justice Service when it is held in Cambridge. In March 2026, there was ringing for the formal installation of a new Chancellor and before that, in September 2022, open, i.e. not muffled, ringing after the simultaneous proclamations of His Majesty King Charles III from the steps of the Senate-House by the Vice-Chancellor and at the Guildhall by the High Sheriff of Cambridgeshire and earlier solemn tolling for the death of our Late Sovereign.
As part of the celebrations for Frank in the ringing-room of Great St Mary’s early in April, the Vicar of the University Church, Jutta Brueck, presented Dr King with the Etheldreda Medal, awarded by the Bishop and Diocese of Ely for ‘generous and outstanding service which would not otherwise be recognised’. A certificate of commendation from the Vice-Chancellor was also delivered. Formerly Churchill College’s Praelector and no slouch in the Classics, the new medallist responded by quoting from the Georgics. Later that month he was able to wear his insignia on the only occasion when the Bellringer appears in a University Procession, at the annual commemoration of John Mere in St Bene’t’s Church. After the sermon has been given, the Vice-Chancellor, Preacher and various University and Parish officers, including the Bellringer, process to the Vestry to receive token payments in old coinage, reflecting Mere’s will. Those in the congregation joining them afterwards at Corpus Christi College for madeira and seedcake were able to admire the medal and congratulate the wearer.
The role of Bellringer seems to originate in the 14th Century and the regulation of life by the ringing of bells remains a familiar feature even in the electronic age, with bells rung before Chapel or Hall in some Colleges, as well as to mark the passing of the hours. Responsibility for the clock probably dates from the installation of the first clock in 1577, with Great St Mary’s having been re-built and enlarged in the late 15th century, but the tower not being completed until 1608. The current ring of 12 bells was installed in 2009. Dr King keeps an eye on the general condition of the bells and tower and oversees the maintenance and regulation of the clock. The clock in turn activates the familiar quarter chimes, composed in 1793 and later ‘borrowed’ for the Palace of Westminster. Although Great St Mary’s is an ordinary parish church, with the Patron, Trinity College, having responsibility for maintaining the chancel as the Lay Rector, the University has an agreement with the Parochial Church Council to contribute to the upkeep of the Church and especially the clock, the bells and the University organ.
Curiously for such a longstanding post, at the start of the present Millenium the University’s Statutes and Ordinances made nomention of the Bellringer, until that is the regulations for the Martin C Faulkes Bell Fund were added in 2009. The Managers are the Vice-Chancellor (or a duly appointed deputy) who shall be Chair, the University Bellringer and one person nominated by the Parish of Great St Mary’s. Back in 1976 it was the Vicar, Stanley Booth-Clibborn, later Bishop of Manchester, who interviewed Frank King, notifying the Vice-Chancellor afterwards that he had been appointed Steeple Keeper, an appointment which, as a letter in response from the University Marshal confirmed, now carried with it the role of University Bellringer. 50 years on, Frank remains a nexus between the Vicar, the Vice-Chancellor and the those who ring at the University Church, who come both from the Society of Cambridge Youths, founded in 1724 and from the Cambridge University Guild of Change Ringers, dating from 1879. Dr King is predictably a member of both…
Bells image credit: The wub, CC BY-SA 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0, via Wikimedia Commons