The Magna Carta Rotunda - Runnymede

It is such a shame that neither the royal party escorting King John nor any of the knights and barons who brought the king to Runnymede on 15th June 1215 had access to “What3Words” to record the exact location to within a square metre where the Magna Carta was signed.

All that has been bequeathed to history as to the location is in the concluding paragraph of the document:

“…in the meadow that is Runnymede, between Windsor and Staines”

This area of land is low lying and would have been liable to being flooded or permanently boggy caused by the nearby Thames. Those who worked in the back channels between the king and the barons and knights may well have chosen the location because of this bogginess to discourage either side from bringing too many armed supporters together near the ceremony to reduce the risk of conflict breaking out.

The Magna Carta of 1215 was not the final version. King John died in 1216 and his heir, Richard II, did some hatchet editing and rewriting converting it into a sort of “Magna Carta Lite”.

Given the importance of the Magna Carta in all its iterations and as the foundation of the British Constitution, I am surprised that the country had to wait until 1957 for any memorial to its historical significance to be built. How was it that a document that declared the fundamental rights of universal justice, no imprisonment without the full due process of the law and the rights to own property securely was not commemorated by the British prior to then.

It was the American Bar Association (ABA) that offered to build this memorial and all the British contributed was an acre of land at the base of Cooper’s Hill on 999 year leasehold terms. Although The Jurors was not installed until 2015 to celebrate the 800th anniversary of the signing of the Magna Carta the rotunda now overlooks those twelve chairs in perpetuity.

The single acre is mostly lawn with only a few trees planted in a neat and symmetrical ornamentation. This lack of intense tree coverage appears to be the expression of the desire that democracy should be transparent and accessible. The path, across American soil, is as straight as an honest arrow let loose from an archer’s bow. Being so clearly geometrically defined denies that the path from that date back in 1215 to the present state of democracies here and around the world has not been straight and even. The true path of democracy has been laid at the cost of lives, of blood, revolutions and freedom which continues to this day.

It is the ABA that makes sure the site is kept well maintained.

The Magna Carta did not provide for the concept of the country having a Constitutional Monarchy. Heaven forbid King John would surrender anymore of his absolute powers than he did when he put pen to paper.

Regardless of what King John wanted all those years ago we now have a constitutional monarchy in Britain.

The Magna Carta enshrined the early concept of the separation of powers. In 1215 the only steps towards what we now have as the separation of powers was making the church and the legal system independent of the monarch. The separation of powers today means that the executive, legislative and judiciary act as counterbalances to prevent the others from legal overreach.

Fortunately, this country has not witnessed any conflicts between the monarchy and the Government for many years. What it did witness in August 2019 was how the separation of powers works. This was when the executive branch of government prorogued Parliament in order to expedite the passing of legislation regarding leaving the European Union. A case was taken to our Supreme Court on the grounds that this action was illegal and ultra vires, beyond the powers of the executive branch of governemnt. The Government of the day lost the case and the Court ordered Parliament to get back to work and do things properly under the constitution.

In 1215 there were no newspapers, magazines or broadcast media to disseminate news across the country. So, it is no great surprise that there is no mention of press freedom within the Magna Carta. The freedom of the press has been won over at least four centuries starting with the advent of pamphlets as Daniel Defoe who did end up in prison a couple of times for what he wrote through to the twenty four hour rolling news we enjoy or endure, depending on your own point of view.

That hard won freedom has resulted in Britain being placed in eighteenth place in the Reporters Without Borders (RSF) Press Freedom Index as at April 2026. This is an improvement from 2024 since the Labour Government took power. Norway is consistently in first place.

The United States of America enshrined the freedom of speech and freedom of the press in the First Amendment of its Constitution. “Congress shall make no law…abridging the freedom of speech, or the freedom of the press”. Despite this declaration the country is languishing in sixty fourth place, as at April 2026, having slipped from fifty fourth place around the time the 47th President was inaugurated. The underlying and constant comment RSF makes about America is “problematic”.

The land for the Kennedy memorial and the Magna Carta rotunda is American. All I ask is that if anyone who has close contact with the 47th President and his administration is to please do not make him aware of these two acres. The last thing Britain needs is for him to seize this land for development.