Westminster Quarters

The Westminster Quarters is the most common name for a clock chime melody used by a set of four bells to chime on each quarter-hour. The number of chime sets matches the number of quarter hours that have passed. It is also known as the Westminster Chimes, from its use at the Palace of Westminster, or the Cambridge Quarters from its place of origin, the church of St Mary the Great, Cambridge. The Westminster Quarters is the most common name for a clock chime melody used by a set of four bells to chime on each quarter-hour. The number of chime sets matches the number of quarter hours that have passed. It is also known as the Westminster Chimes, from its use at the Palace of Westminster, or the Cambridge Quarters from its place of origin, the church of St Mary the Great, Cambridge. The melody consists of four different permutations of four pitches in the key of E major plus one arrangement omitting B3 and repeating E4 (3). The pitches are B3, E4, F♯4 and G♯4.