December 5, 2014
Trowbridge to Benefit from Magna Carta Grant.
Trowbridge Town Council is very pleased to receive confirmation from Chairman of the Magna Carta 800th Anniversary Committee that we have been awarded a grant of £10,000 towards our year of celebrations in 2015 for the 800th Anniversary of the Magna Carta.
The Magna Carta Trust’s 800th Anniversary Commemoration Committee is charged by the Magna Carta Trust to co-ordinate activities, raise the profile of the anniversary and deliver a number of key national and international aspirations.
Trowbridge Town Council, in partnership with the Chamber of Commerce, Town Team and St James’ Church will be organising a series of events and activities relating to the 800th anniversary next year. These include a Magna Carta Conference at the Civic Centre on 25th April, a Flower Festival, a Business Expo, and a three Day Charter Fayre on 24th, 25th and 26th July. Trowbridge was the seat of Henry de Bohun, one of the 25 Barons who persuaded King John to agree to Magna Carta in 1215.
Wiltshire is the only County where one can visit both a Baron Town and see one of the original 1215 copies of Magna Carta, at Salisbury Cathedral. We are working closely with Visit Wiltshire to ensure as many people as possible can Discover Trowbridge.
In addition the Town Clerk will be undertaking a bike ride, covering 800 miles to visit all 22 Baron Towns in June next year, from Somerset to Suffolk and London to Northumberland, raising funds for Re-Cycle Bikes for Africa and the Mayor’s charity, Dorothy House Hospice Care.
Magna Carta is the foundation stone supporting the freedoms enjoyed by nearly two billion people in over 100 countries. Magna Carta enshrined the Rule of Law. It limited the power of authoritarian rule, the ‘divine right of kings’, and it paved the way for trial by jury, modified through the ages as the franchise was extended. The original Great Charter was agreed by King John on 15th June 1215 when he acceded to barons’ and bishops’ demands to limit his powers and directed that it be sealed. This version of Magna Carta was revised several times in the 13th Century. The 1297 version became part of English law.
For information regarding other projects visit https://magnacarta800th.com/projects/.
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