As host to the Magna Carta celebrations this year, St Edmundsbury is planning a week of events in June with a freedom and democracy theme and is looking to set up a special page on the Borough Council's website.
The hunt is now on for memories or pictures of former Magna Carta events that people can share which can be posted on the website. As well as hosting the Magna Carta events, St Edmundsbury is giving the Freedom of the Borough to the local Normandy Veterans so memories of D-Day, when British and allied troops stormed the beaches in Normandy, would also be welcomed.
People are invited to send their memories and pictures, with a stamped addressed envelope if they want them returned, to :Communications Unit, St Edmundsbury Borough Council, Borough Offices, Angel Hill, Bury St Edmunds, IP33 1XB or email: communications@stedsbcgov.uk
The centrepiece of the celebrations is a civic parade around the town and to the Cathedral, where a special service will be held to commemorate the granting of Magna Carta and its effects on freedom and democracy. Guests of the borough include the Master of the Rolls and representatives of the other four Charter Towns. Participants in the parade include Veterans of the Normandy campaign in 1944 and the United States Third Air Force, who will be exercising the Freedom granted to them by the Borough in 2000. The Royal Air Force Regiment, based at RAF Honington, which also has the Freedom of the Borough, will be taking part as well.
There will also be especially themed events and displays, such as a carnival parade, Nowton Park Country Fair and displays of items and pictures relating to D-Day and Magna Carta at Moyse’s HallMuseum. St Edmundsbury Borough Council will also be celebrating its 30th anniversary and members of the public will be invited to come along to an open day at the Borough Offices.
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ISSUED BY MARIANNE HULLAND, COMMUNICATIONS UNIT, ST EDMUNDSBURY BOROUGH COUNCIL. Tel 01284 757033 Fax 01284 757032 marianne.hulland@stedsbc.gov.uk
Note to news editors:
1) What is Magna Carta?
Magna Carta is a charter of liberties sealed by King John in 1215. After years of enduring his harsh taxes the barons of England came up with a document that placed limits upon the absolute power of the King and made him subject to the law. Included in its 61 clauses is a provision that no free man could be imprisoned, outlawed or exiled except by the lawful judgement of his peers or by the law of the land and that justice could not be sold, delayed or denied.
2) How is Bury StEdmunds connected with Magna Carta?
Bury St Edmunds' link with Magna Carta dates from 1214, when it is believed that the barons of England met in the AbbeyChurch and swore they would force King John to accept Magna Carta. In 1956 the Magna Carta Trust was formed with the aim of holding a commemoration every 15 years. The celebrations are rotated among five Charter Towns - Bury St Edmunds, Runnymede, Canterbury, St Albans and the City of London. This year it is the turn of Bury St Edmunds.
3) The programme so far
Saturday 12 June
* Bury St Edmunds carnival
* Children’s event in the AbbeyGardens
Sunday 13 June
* Local Normandy Veterans given the Freedom of the Borough
* Flypast from the United States Air Force
* Normandy Veterans and United States Air Force Freedom Parade through the town centre
* Performances by military units on the Angel Hill
* Lecture by Professor Nicholas Vincent, professor of medieval history at the University of East Anglia on, ‘The Magna Carta – the Bury St Edmunds Connection’
Monday 14 June
* Evening Question Time session in the Athenaeum
Wednesday 16 June
* Lecture by Clive Paine on ‘Bury St Edmunds in the year of Magna Carta’
Thursday 17 June
* Open Day at St Edmundsbury Borough Offices celebrating our 30th anniversary.
Sunday 20 June
* Nowton Park Country Fair with Medieval theme
* Bury St Edmunds Hidden Gardens
Magna Carta guided walks and tours in the Cathedral will also be taking place during the week
