[MUSIC] You join me here at Royal Holloway, University of London, with Doctor Matthew Smith. And, today, we're going to talk about the Magna Carta 800th Anniversary. Matthew, could you outline the events in the lead up to the anniversary and the anniversary itself please? >> Yes, I think one of the most interesting aspects about the 800th celebrations here Runnymede was that you see a confluence of commemorative activity. You've got activity taking place to represent the national international commemoration of Magna Carta. Right down to then regional and also local commemorative activity, projects and events. >> Could I ask you to expand upon the international and the national commemorations first of all, please? >> Yeah, so the international and national aspects of the commemoration were fused together in the form of one day. On the 15th of June, 2015 when you had the Queen, then Prime Minister David Cameron, and the US Attorney General, Loretta Lynch, all coming to Runnymede to deliver speeches. You had orchestral music and choral music being performed, the Red Arrows form the Royal Airforce soaring overhead, and the solemn re-dedication of the Magna Carta Memorial, funded by the American Bar Association. So this was a large ticketed event. So members of the local community had to apply to attend, go through some security checks and then for a select few members of the community, they got to be in the front rows to witness this solemn and celebratory event. >> I suppose my next question would be, how did this differ from the regional commemorative events that took place? >> So at the regional level, you had activity led by Surrey County Council and the National Trust. And in the lead up to the 800th anniversary, there were grand plans to create Magna Carta country, as it was called. With ideas that have been new access to the site, improved access across the Windsor road which bisects the meadows and also improved interpretation on site. And this was realized with mixed success. So there was a temporary Magna Carta center created after Brunel's boat house. And you did have a new level crossing so you could safely get from one side of the meadow to the others which is not an insignificant achievement in the time frame. And some very minor improvements to the signage. So there were some white picket fences welcoming you to Magna Carta Country as you entered the meadows. But in terms of them realizing that broader version of Magna Carta Country and using that as a driver for Heritage Tourism, that fell a little bit flat. And I think the main reason for that is that Surrey County Council and the National Trusts efforts got all consumed with that national and international event. Just the logistics. With the visits of high profile US dignitaries and of course the head of state and head of government, I think just swallowed up everyone's time and attention. >> I suppose, lastly, what happened on the very local level? Was that significantly and markedly different from what was happening International, national, and regional level. >> Yes, very much so. So there were three main actors in the local commemorations. You had Royal Holloway as one of the key drivers of local commemorative activity, Runnymede Borough Council, and Egham Museum. So to start with Royal Holloway, Royal Holloway hosted not long after the anniversary, a great charter festival in this very quad and in the south quad, which was a celebration of the ideas of which Magna Carta is associated. So the rule of law, justice, liberty, democracy. All explored through performance, song, different forms of interpretation as a way of reaching out to, engaging audiences who wouldn't necessarily just engage with the history itself. Who are much more interested in the ideas of Magna Carta and what it means today. Then you had Runnymede Borough Council. So in the lead up to the anniversary, Runnymede Borough Council's focus has been on attempts to create a new Magna Carta Center at Runnymede on the Pleasure Grounds. Where the counselors are all simultaneously trustees of that pleasure grounds. This project, again, didn't really get off the ground. There were attempts to get lottery funding, which was unsuccessful. It looked for a time like Surrey County Council would swoop in, ride to the rescue, and provide some funding to realize this in time for the anniversary. But there was a considerable public backlash to this project. Partly on the grounds that it would seem to be just heritage tourism rather than having any deep significance or impact. Concerns about any public money that might be involved in this. And really, that undermined attempts by Surrey County Council to support this project. Because questions were quite rightly asked in terms of why should this project be getting county money when it's not been successful in getting lottery money? Raised questions about the viability, the legacy, the educational value of the project. After that point, Runnymede Borough Council took a different approach. And it was much more community-orientated, grassroots activity, which I think had a much greater resonance and impact on the local community. So there was support for the local museum, topping up some of their funding for the anniversary period. There was also a small pageant held on Runnymede Pleasure Grounds, to engage local families, which was quite popular. Hundreds of people attended that. And a series of talks across the Borough. Because, of course, for Runnymede Borough, they wanted to make sure that that Magna Carta impact wasn't just felt here in Runnymede and Egham, but across the entire Borough. So talks in Chertsey and Addlestone, for example. Now the third local actor, the smallest of all the various partners working to commemorate Magna Carta, was Egham Museum. And in many ways, their contribution was the most surprising in terms of the relative impacted scale of the organization. We have to remember Egham Museum was a very small community museum operating on a shoestring budget for most of its history, up until they lead up the Magna Carta anniversary. Largely volunteer run. Very limited resources. But thanks to a grant from the Heritage lottery fund, the museum was able to create a wide ranging public engagement, education and exhibition program. So in terms of public engagement there were a series of talks for the local community. There was a new event called a constitutional convention, which was hosted here at Royal Holloway where delegates from across the South East could come here to Runnymede. To debate and draft clauses for a modern Magna Carta, which was then exhibited in the Supreme Court. And then for the education project, you had digital resources being created by local university students to support learning in local schools and wide ranging partnership with Magna Carta school. Now for the exhibition component of Egham Museum's project, that was the most exciting to be involved with. And I feel the most impactful because not only did you have a relatively small exhibition in the museum itself. But most importantly there was a pop-up exhibition hosted in the local church on the high street, so much more visible and accessible to the general public. And importantly, that exhibition was co-curated with the community. So here, Egham Museum took a potential weakness, the lack of a Magna Carta to exhibit, and turned that into a real strength of the exhibition by using it as an opportunity to reach out to different community groups. To explore with them what Magna Carta meant to them. How they would represent that in whether it was paintings or models or banners and then exhibiting and interpreting that content. And so that pop-up exhibition in the end wasn't just another retelling of the Magna Carta story, of which there were many such exhibitions around the country. It was also very importantly a window onto a particular moment, a window on to what Magna Carta meant to local people in that all-important anniversary year. So you've outlined that Egham Museum's exhibition was successful because of the absence of Magna Carta. And hinted that potentially, the Surrey and Runnymede's aspirations for a Magna Carta Center was potentially hindered by the lack of Magna Carta. Would that be a fair summary? >> I think that was certainly part of the mix. It was the, I suppose, the elephant in the room of every conversation of potential funders or key stakeholders in support of such an initiative. How you would overcome that gaping absence in what would ultimately be an interpretation center. But I think there were broader problems with that project from the offset which hindered its realization. In particular from the perspective of the heritage lottery funds, there was that tension between the different aspirations at play. That obviously for the councils looking to get value there was particular emphases on Heritage tourism. Whereas, of course, what the lottery were keen to see was that more grassroots community engagement in an educational legacy. So the fate of the Magna Carta Visitor Center speaks to broader challenges in the Heritage sector more broadly. >> Okay, thank you very much.
