Runnymede

Abstract

Despite its canonical place in English and Western history, Runnymede was not protected as a heritage site until the interwar years. The Thames-side meadow was saved through a campaign that accumulated public support and appealed across the political spectrum. Such interwar preservation initiatives happened within larger developments in British society: namely, the expansion of the franchise, Great War commemoration practices, and growing interest in the United States following the American contributions in the war. By preserving the site where Magna Carta was sealed, the British revived an historic episode that helped describe the nation they sought to promote in the aftermath of World War I. That nation was a more democratic one, and it was the ancestor and ally of the United States. Commemoration practices at Runnymede, from the erection of memorials to the hosting of elaborate historical pageants, served as the vehicle to institutionalize those narratives.