Magna Carta Island

View of Magna Carta Island from the North bank of the Thames

Template:OSM Location map Magna Carta Island is an ait in the River Thames in England, on the reach above Bell Weir Lock. It is in Berkshire facing water-meadows forming Runnymede. Its civil and ecclesiastical parish is Wraysbury so it was transferred from Buckinghamshire to Berkshire in 1974.

History

The island is a contender for being the place where, in 1215, King John sealed Magna Carta.<ref name="GYLL">History of the Parish of Wraysbury, Ankerwycke Priory, and Magna Charta Island; with the History of Horton, and the town of Colnbrook, Bucks., G.W.J. Gyll, 1862, London: H. G. Bohn. OCLC: 5001532 Online Version at Google Books</ref> Whilst the charter itself indicates Runnymede by name, it is possible the island may have been considered part of Runnymede at the time. It is known that in 1217 the island was the meeting-place of Henry III and Louis (later Louis VIII) of France.<ref name="GYLL"/>

The island is the site of a large house, known as Magna Carta House, built in 1834 in a pseudo-Norman style by George Simon Harcourt, the High Sheriff of Buckinghamshire and later Member of Parliament. Within the house there is still a large inscribed stone that Harcourt installed to commemorate the signing of the Magna Carta. The house had large extensions built in the early-20th century and is now Grade II listed.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In the early 1920s the island was owned by a stockbroker, J. F. MacGregor, and his wife, the music hall performer Maidie Scott.<ref>Film of Magna Carta Island, 1920s, Kinolibrary.com. Retrieved 13 April 2021</ref>

In the 1930's, the house was owned by the industrialist and Member of Parliament Patrick Hannon.<ref name="Independent">Template:Cite news</ref> His wife hosted parties there with prominent guests, such as Prime Minister of Australia Joseph Lyons,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Anne Chamberlain, the wife of the British Prime Minister, and foreign ambassadors.<ref name="Times-1937-07-22" /><ref>Template:Cite newspaper The Times</ref> The grounds were also sometimes open to the public,<ref>Template:Cite newspaper The Times</ref> and garden parties were held for the participants in the annual Swan upping ceremony.<ref name="Times-1937-07-22">Template:Cite newspaper The Times</ref><ref>Template:Cite newspaper The Times</ref>

Hannon eventually gave the property to Buckinghamshire County Council, who rented it to a series of tenants before selling it in 1967.<ref name="Independent" /> In the grounds of the house there is a walnut tree planted by Elizabeth II in October 1974.<ref name="mansionglobal" /><ref>Template:Cite newspaper The Times</ref>

In 2014, the house and island were offered for sale by the son of the couple who bought them in 1967.<ref name="Independent" /> The property was again for sale in 2021 for £4.1 million.<ref name="mansionglobal">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

In literature

The island is mentioned in chapter 12 of Jerome K. Jerome's 1889 humorous novel Three Men in a Boat:<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

See also

• Islands in the River Thames

References

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