This morning Jonathan Pearson, Development Director and ON, addressed Norwich School pupils on the routines of Norwich's Cathedral Close. 

"Good morning. My name is Jonathan Pearson, the school’s Development Director and an Old Norvicensian. I first came here as a pupil in 1978 and immediately fell in love with Norwich’s Cathedral Close. I am sure this is a familiar story to many of you too. It is often referred to as a close community, pun intended, and my assembly today is about the importance of The Close to life at school - in particular, the relevance of gates, keys and bells, without which life here could not function properly. 

Part of my job relates to generating support for the school, work which often occurs during the evenings - last year on more than 80 separate occasions. You may not realise it but the Cathedral Close closes at 10:30pm - and I mean really shuts: the Ethelbert and Erpingham gates are bolted; pedestrian gates at Horsefair, Pulls Ferry, the Lower School and the Scout hut are all locked. There is no getting in at all. I have this special key [show key], however, to allow entry to The Close after 10:30 through a secret door – it’s saved my bacon on many late nights. 

It is quite an operation for the Cathedral security guards to close all those gates and then open them again each morning.  This is not some new fad but has been going on for centuries. 

But, why all this trouble? I used to think it was just to stop boisterous elements from Tombland and Prince of Wales Road from causing havoc amongst the genteel residents of The Close after dark. This may well be so, but the real reason is infinitely more profound and stems back to its original monastic foundation in the 11th century.  

Over time, The Close has grown to span 44 acres, with its surrounding precinct walls being little changed. In that early medieval period, it was customary for the monastic community to welcome visitors during daytime but to remain closed and in prayer after dark, as it sought deliberately to cut itself off from the secular world for part of each day. 

To be able to do this, an enclosed precinct was necessary, but it also required The Close to be a largely self-sufficient community. Norwich’s Cathedral Close in the Middle Ages had its own well, infirmary, refectory, herb and flower gardens, vegetable allotments, river for fishing, livestock, cemeteries, stores, stables, dormitory, etc. Many are still with us today.  

So, you start to form a picture of a tightly-knit community that was admirably self-contained, opening its gates through choice, to impart ecclesiastical charity as it saw fit, welcoming pilgrims, providing them with sustenance in the Refectory, and information in the Hostry. The same, of course, is true today. 

All this got me thinking about our adjacent school site. We too keep our main site and buildings closed off and locked when necessary. After all, the school is obliged to keep you safe and protected at all times. Recent security improvements have seen an additional gate at the back of the Palace, new gates by the gatekeeper’s hut and by School End House. Those of us who periodically forget our lanyard know you get nowhere without it. 

Yet we willingly throw open our doors at certain times too. I am not just referring to obvious examples such as Open Morning. I am talking about the frequent occurrence of inviting visitors in to share the glories of our historic school site. This includes: outreach work with other schools; running the Norfolk Summer School; work with charities such as Able2B and Friend in Deed and with our Ukrainian networks; this includes opening the Chapel for public concerts or Heritage Open Days and the Crypt as a permanent free-to-enter art installation; this includes using the site for public cultural offerings such as the 21 lectures held last year with partner organisations like the Norfolk Cambridge Society and the Royal Geographical Society.  We delight in welcoming thousands of visitors on site annually. 

So, why do we do this? Because it is the right and charitable thing to do. We are the 21st century custodians of a site rich in heritage, and the school’s moral obligation as an educational institution is to reach out and to open our doors, just as the Cathedral authorities do each morning when gates re-open at 6am. 

I have one more reflection on the similarities between the running of the Cathedral Close and Norwich School, and that relates to bells. I arrive on site at 7:50 each morning with my sons in tow: Edward in U6 and William in L3. At exactly 7:55 a solitary bell tolls for a few minutes and then at 08:00 the Cathedral’s bells chime. This again is another long-standing ritual: a five-minute warning calling devout souls to morning Communion, dating from a time long before clocks and watches. As we head down to the Lower School each morning, we pass the usual suspects heading up to their worship. When we head home, the same happens again at 5:25pm in readiness for Evensong at 5:30, as has been the case for many centuries. 

And so it is with our school bell. With the window in my office open, I listen to the bell in the Quad ringing out calling pupils to registration and marking the end of breaktimes, as it has done for hundreds of years, and just as it did in the 1970s when I was a schoolboy. Nowadays, we all have watches, phones and clocks, but to hear that same bell still makes me quicken my pace and provides a pleasing acoustic symmetry to the Cathedral bells.  

I believe we all gain comfort from long-standing routines. My assembly today speaks to a proud history of Norwich School’s continuous links to this Cathedral Close for over 900 years. It makes you wonder that, despite life having changed immeasurably since the Cathedral’s foundation in 1096, there are some important and deeply symbolic traditions that have steadfastly endured centuries of turmoil. Today’s custodians of the Cathedral Close respect and continue such duties. 

Therefore, I invite you to reflect on this when next you forget your lanyard and whenever you hear bells in The Close. 

If you have been, thanks for listening."