The Meadows Where Rights Were Born
Runnymede is one of the most important historic sites in the English-speaking world. On these water meadows beside the Thames, near Egham in Surrey, King John sealed Magna Carta on 15 June 1215 – the Great Charter of Freedoms that laid the foundation for constitutional law across the globe. The document established that the sovereign was subject to the rule of law, a principle that has shaped legal systems from Westminster to Washington.
The 188-acre site includes the Magna Carta Memorial, erected by the American Bar Association in 1957, and the Kennedy Memorial, dedicated in 1965 on an acre of land given to the United States. The Commonwealth Air Forces Memorial, designed by Sir Edward Maufe, stands on Cooper's Hill above the meadows and commemorates over 20,000 airmen who died during the Second World War with no known grave.
The Ankerwycke Yew
Across the river at Ankerwycke stands a yew tree estimated to be 2,500 years old – the oldest tree in the National Trust's care. With a girth of eight metres, it predates the Roman conquest of Britain. Tradition holds that Henry VIII courted Anne Boleyn beneath its branches, and some historians believe the yew marks the actual spot where Magna Carta was sealed, rather than the meadows opposite.
Beside the yew lie the ruins of St Mary's Priory, a 12th-century Benedictine nunnery acquired by the National Trust in 1998. The priory, the ancient yew, and the riverside meadows create a landscape layered with almost a thousand years of documented history. Art installations by Hew Locke and Mark Wallinger add a contemporary dimension to this ancient place.
