Runnymede

Runnymede is the birthplace of the Magna Carta. On 15 June 1215 King John has signed the Magna Carta in this open landscape. It is close to London, on the Thames, but of course, pre-cars and pre-paved-roads, it was rather far. Luckily Runnymede has kept its open landscape and it is a wonderful place to visit. We haven’t been to the Commonwealth Air Forces, but we saw the other memorials and art installations.

I can’t believe I waited so long to visit this place, considering how often we are going to London.

The art installations are beautiful, but also the memorials.

The Jurors is a memorial of twelve intricate bronze chairs. It was created by Hew Locke to mark the 800th anniversary of the sealing of Magna Carta, and it was inaugurated by Prince William. Each chair is decorated with different symbols. I found it very interesting to look at each chair. The amount of details is impressive and they look beautiful.

Look at those details. People can sit on the chairs to reflect or just walk around them and admire the craftsmanship.

Now we were on American soil. Queen Elizabeth gave this land to the American people in the 1960s, after Kennedy was shot. There is a memorial tablet that can be reached by climbing these 50 irregular steps of granite. It is supposed to represent a pilgrimage and the 50 steps represent the 50 US states.
Each step is different and the 60,000 granite cubes were cut by hand.

Public donations and UK government funding paid for the Portland stone memorial. The memorial was designed by Geoffrey Jellicoe, was dedicated on 14 May 1965, and consists of the garden and the stone tablet. The stone was designed and carved by Alan Collins.

The inscription is a quote from his Inaugural Address:
Let every Nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend or oppose any foe, in order to assure the survival and success of liberty.

Magna Carta Memorial is in an enclosure. It was created by the American Bar Association. It was designed by Sir Edward Maufe and was unveiled in 1957. The memorial was re-dedicated a few times by the ABA. There are stones slabs in the memorial to mark all these occasions, from 1971, 1985, 2000, 2007, and 2015. There are two benches from the 2015 celebrations as well.

The ceiling is stunning.

This is a popular place for people with dogs and they are allowed on the grounds. I think that is wonderful. Just look at those dogs enjoying the standing water. It was so funny to stop and watch them enjoy their walk and play. The owner of these three dogs must have had a bit of a headache with washing them afterwards.

Writ in Water is an art installation by Mark Wallinger. It is based on the Clause 39 of Magna Carta. It looked wonderful and it is a place where visitors can stop, sit, admire the beauty of the artwork, and possibly reflect on what democracy and the rule of law means.

If you want to visit, there are car parks, but they close at 5, so keep that in mind. Also, you might need wellies if it rained. We didn’t have any, but fortunately we had spare trainers in the car. There is a tea room, the car park is free for members and cheap for non-members. National Trust Runnymede is easily found with the GPS, postcode is SL4 2JL.