UEA Service

Procession leaving Norwich Cathedral following a service marking the Installation of Chancellor at the University of East Anglia.

On the occasion of the Installation of Lord Franks as Chancellor of the University of East Anglia (UEA) on 23 April 1966, academic and civic participants are filmed leaving Norwich Cathedral, processing through the Cathedral Close and out of the gate onto Tombland. Amongst those watching, people with still and cine cameras capture the scene. The service of thanksgiving at the Cathedral followed the Installation and conferring of honorary degrees at St Andrew’s Hall. In procession, the undergraduates, principal officers of the University, faculty and honorary graduates are followed by the Mayor and dignitaries of the city of Norwich. This was the first occasion on which the UEA academic gowns, designed by Cecil Beaton, were worn.

Featured Buildings

Norwich Cathedral

Keywords

Education; Higher education; Honorary degrees; Students; Universities; Cathedrals; Civic dignitaries

Background Information

Extracts from Michael Sanderson, The History of the University of East Anglia Norwich, Hambledon and London 2002 pages 134-135 "A high point of the sixties was the installation of Lord Franks of Headington OM as Chancellor, Lord Mackintosh having died before his formal installation." … "Oliver Franks had had a remarkable career of great distinction." … "The Installation on 23 April 1966 was a splendid occasion. It was preceded by a civic reception in Norwich Castle hosted by the Lord Mayor and Lady Mayoress, Mr and Mrs C.B. Jewson. The Installation itself took place on the following day in St Andrew’s Hall. Lord Franks in his address gave some insight into his own thinking that universities had to be places of useful knowledge but also places concerned with values and activities worth pursuing for their own sake. The Vice-Chancellor conferred the honorary degree of DCL on the new Chancellor. Following this a group of distinguished men and women were also made honorary doctors of the University: Asa Briggs, the historian; R.H. Mottram, the Norwich novelist; A.L. Hodgkin, the Nobel laureate physiologist; Dorothy Hodgkin, the crystallographer and also Nobel laureate; Paul Samuelson, the economist; Sir Eric Ashby, a leader in higher education and Robert Gardiner the Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa. Finally, and especially fittingly, came Sir Charles Wilson, the Chairman of UEA’s Academic Planning Board. After the Installation the participants processed to the Cathedral for a service of thanksgiving and the morning ended with an excellent buffet lunch in marquees on the lawn behind Earlham Hall. The Installation was also notable for the first public display of the new academic gowns designed by Cecil Beaton." Notes for identification of the academic gowns (information drawn from the book cited above): Chancellor – scarlet with gold and orange facings and bishop sleeves Vice-Chancellor – tan with fire-coloured velvet facings Pro Vice-Chancellor - blue with orange trimmings Public Orator – two shades of purple with orange lining at the sleeves Undergraduates – smokey blue capes and tricorne cap (later replaced by mortar board)