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National Trust plans Runnymede-Ankerwycke ferry

Ankerwycke Priory

A ferry is to be established at Runnymede to link the famous Magna Carta meadow with less well-known Ankerwycke Priory ruins on the left bank of the River Thames.

A £1.6 million award from the National Lottery for the National Trust will also fund an improved Thames towpath alongside  Runnymede.

The priory grounds include the 2,500 year old Ankerwycke Yew under which is it claimed by some historians that Magna Carta was agreed in 1215.

The Magna Carta agreement between King John and the barons was achieved on 15 June 1215.

Did they meet under the tree before crossing the water together for the sealing of the document with wax and a formal embrace between the monarch and Archbishop of Canterbury Stephen Langton on Runnymede?

The King had travelled by river from Windsor. The barons, having  camped on the west side of Staines, are thought to have arrived at Ankerwycke Priory early in the morning to be welcomed by the prioress and other Benedictine nuns.

Ankerwycke Yew

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