Lambeth Degree - Academic Dress

Academic Dress

As with many degrees from elsewhere, holders of a Lambeth degree are entitled to wear academic dress. However, the academic dress worn is not unique, original or exclusive. The tradition is to wear the academic dress of the institution from which the archbishop graduated and this has always been either Oxford or Cambridge. George Carey is not an Oxford or Cambridge graduate (he is a London graduate) but followed tradition and chose Oxford dress. The then Vice-Chancellor of London University, Graham Zellick, attempted to see if London University academicals could be used but his attempt proved fruitless. It is uncertain whether robes from a university other than Oxford or Cambridge can be used when the archbishop is not an Oxford or Cambridge graduate.

There has been talk of whether holders of Lambeth degrees should have distinctive academic dress and some Lambeth degree holders have designed their own dress to wear, for example, Dr Turpin who commissioned an Oxford and Cambridge hybrid DMus robe.

However, the STh (Lambeth Diploma) has a distinctive academic dress. The hood is of black stuff of full Cambridge shape with the lining divided horizontally. The lower half is of light blue silk and the upper half is of white silk, so that the lining appears white over blue when worn. This is an unusual pattern for academic hoods in the UK so some STh hoods have been made of black stuff of full Cambridge shape, lined with mid-blue silk, and the cowl faced with eight inches of white silk. The gown is of the London BA pattern but with blue cords and buttons on the sleeves.