Celebrating 800 years of Magna Carta

This year marks the 800th anniversary of the Magna Carta, and colleagues at Oxford Brookes are contributing to official commemorations alongside our own anniversary celebrations. Charlotte Field from the UK recruitment team reports on the ceremony held at Runnymede earlier this month:

I was lucky enough to get invited to the official Magna Carta commemoration day at Runnymede on 15 June, the 800th anniversary of the sealing of Magna Carta. I was there with colleagues from the University, and representing many more who have been working on the Magna Carta project over the last year, the culmination of which includes the symposium that was held on 18 June and the ongoing exhibition currently in the Glass Tank. 

It was pretty special to be at the site of Runnymede on the anniversary itself. I imagine it feels like a special place on any day of the year, but I felt a particular weight in trying to think about what 800 years really means, in light of what happened there. Speeches from David Cameron and the Archbishop of Canterbury in the presence of the royal family were fascinating to hear but the most affecting part of the morning for me was looking at the new permanent artwork commissioned for the commemoration. 

 

Artist Hew Locke has created ‘the Jurors’ which in the vastness of the meadow provides space to think and reflect about our history, with his images depicting the struggle for freedom and democracy over the last few centuries and beyond, imprinted on twelve imposing bronze chairs. These will be positioned on that meadow for the future and I'd highly recommend going to see them.

Visit the exhibition

‘A Modern Magna Carta’, an exhibition of works by local schools interpreting the Magna Carta for 2015, is open in The Glass Tank on our Headington campus until Friday 24 July (Mon-Fri, 9am-6pm, free entry, open to all).

The exhibition will then move to the Museum of Oxford, where it will remain until 20 August. 

Visit our events pages for more information.

More on the Magna Carta

Find out more about activities run by Oxford Brookes on the Magna Carta Project web page. 

Watch our three former chancellors debating 'On Liberty, Magna Carta and our future’ earlier this year. 

‘Creating our Future’ at the Cowley Road Carnival

Final preparations are underway for Sunday’s Cowley Road Carnival, Oxfordshire’s largest community event. As part of our anniversary celebrations, Oxford Brookes University is the carnival’s lead sponsor this year, with a theme of ‘Creating our Future’.

The procession, always a highlight of the festivities, will start from The Plain at 1.30pm. Oxford Brookes will be leading the way with a carnival banner, stories from our 150 years of history, and our carnival sculpture Brookie the bookworm. All the procession pieces were made by students and staff in a series of workshops in the run-up to the carnival. For a look behind the scenes, check our Cowley Road Carnival blog.  

The Brookes Zone will be open throughout the afternoon in Manzil Way with a range of family-friendly activities. In line with the theme of ‘Creating our Future’, children will be invited to create a time capsule and to contribute to the Brookes Wish Tree. There will be a mortar board making workshop, Victorian themed activities in a reconstructed classroom, and the chance to win prizes in the Brookes Bus mystery word competition.  

Visitors will also be able to find out more about our 150 years of history by exploring our timeline, and to learn about recent research with the bamboo bike and a video of Artie the robot. Add to this tea tasting, face painting, a juggling unicyclist and a wheel of fortune, and there should be something for everyone. We look forward to seeing you there! Please share your photos and tweets with #brookes150

Visit the Cowley Road Carnival website for more information on the event.