A special anthem composed to commemorate the 800th anniversary of the sealing of the Magna Carta is being delivered by bicycle to St Albans Cathedral on Monday.
The piece will be hand delivered by Stephen Brown, who has cycled all the way from Hampshire on a route taking in all five of the ‘charter towns’ where the original copies of the Magna Carta were taken.
The anthem is composed by Malcolm Archer, director of chapel music at Winchester College, and is based on a prayer written by Archbishop Langton, who was Archbishop at the time of Magna Carta in 1215, and one of the principal signatories. It is being delivered ahead of the main Magna Carta 800th Festival celebration next year.
In August 1213, St Albans Cathedral was the venue for the very first meeting between barons and clergy to discuss their grievances against King John. This historic meeting ultimately led to the articles that became Magna Carta, sealed at Runnymede two years later.
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