King’s Ely’s annual Hoop Trundle took place outside Ely Cathedral on Saturday as students battled it out in a fiercely contested event.

Ely Standard: Kings School, Ely, Hoop Trundle.Kings School, Ely, Hoop Trundle. (Image: Archant)

The event sees the school’s King’s and Queen’s Scholars bowling traditional wooden hoops over a course on the east lawn of Ely Cathedral and commemorates the re-founding of the school by King Henry VIII in 1541.

Having dissolved Ely monastery, which had educated children for centuries, he gave the school its first Royal Charter and inaugurated the 12 King’s Scholars.

One of the privileges he allowed them was to play games, including the bowling of hoops, in the cathedral precincts.

In 1970, the school admitted girls for the first time in its 1,000 year history, and three years later the King’s Scholars were joined by Queen’s Scholars at the request of Queen Elizabeth II during her visit to the school in 1973.

This year’s event was won by lower sixth students Euan Richards and Yuki Kimura, both aged 17, who were presented with the Hoop Trundle commemorative wooden tankards by mayor-elect, Liz Every, which they will hold until next year’s event.