May 22, 2015
Commemorative Bells to Ring out in Celebration of Magna Carta 800th
Four new church bells specially commissioned to celebrate Magna Carta 800th will be cast for St. Mary’s Church, Thorpe in the Borough of Runnymede.
Believed to be the only bells to be cast in the UK for the MC800th anniversary they will be hung afterwards in St. Mary’s Church, Thorpe to join the existing four bells and provide a unique and long-lasting legacy for future generations.
The Whitechapel Bell Foundry will undertake the casting of the four new bells, as they did in 1958 when the original three bells dating from 1693, 1725 and 1758 were recast to make four.
The bell inscriptions will include the names of King John, Stephen Langton, Archbishop of Canterbury, Adam, Abbott of Chertsey Abbey and the MC800th logo.
St. Mary’s church is the oldest church in the borough and was in existence at the time when Magna Carta was sealed on Runnymede Meadows in 1215 AD. The St. Mary’s Bells Project is funded by generous donations from parishioners and a grant from the Magna Carta Trust.
The project will allow local schools and colleges to engage with moral, social and cultural aspects of learning, through exploring the church location, the history of bell-ringing and contemplation of the past 800 years’ growth of democracy throughout the world.
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.
For more information on the project, visit the project page
Categories