Cambridge – St Mary’s Church (the University Church)
The Church of St Mary the Great, known locally as Great St Mary’s is the University Church and lies in the Diocese of Ely of the Church of England. It is used as the central reference point to define distances within which members of the university must reside. Its construction began in 1478 and it was completed in 1519 except for the tower which was completed in 1608. It is used for University Sermons, for Memorial Services for University and College dignitaries, and by Colleges to mark special occasions such as their centenaries. Many great men have preached at the church including Thomas Cranmer and his mentor Martin Bucer, whose body was buried originally in the churchyard but was dug up in the reign of Queen Mary and burnt in the town marketplace. The view shows the West End of the church. Over the West door is the chiming clock for which the ‘Cambridge Chimes’ were written in 1793 by Revd Dr Joseph Jowett, Regius Professor of Civil Law (possibly with assistance from Dr John Randall or from William Crotch). They are played on each of the quarter hours through the day. In the mid nineteenth century they were adopted for the Houses of Parliament, to precede the striking of Big Ben; then they became more widely known as the ‘Westminster Chimes’ or the ‘Westminster Quarters’. Now they are found on house doorbells and mobile phones worldwide! The picture was drawn and engraved by J Greig
Size: 3600px × 4931px
Location: Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, England
Photo credit: © Cameni Images / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
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