The Curry Mallet Magna Carta 800 group has received a Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) Sharing Heritage Grant to help fund exciting activities and events to celebrate the 800th anniversary of one of the most notable days in history, the sealing of the Magna Carta.
The weekend of 13-14th June will be a village celebration of the 800th anniversary of the Magna Carta. To try and find out about the medieval origins of the village, archaeologists from the South West Heritage Trust will be joining forces with local people, children from Curry Mallet primary school and archaeology students, to dig test pits in Glebe field next to the church. GeoFlow has carried out some geophysical surveying in the field, to help the archaeologists locate where to dig.
Sunday 14th June is a parish open day with a fete, so do come along and find out more!
The anniversary is significant to the local area because William Malet, Lord of the Manor of Curry Mallet, was one of the 25 rebel barons present at Runnymede in June 1215 to act as a guarantor of the charter.
Last week children from Curry Mallet primary school had a go at being archaeologists for the day, digging test pits in the school garden. They carried out a range of activities including trowelling, sieving and pot washing and also had a demonstration of geophysical surveying given by Liz Caldwell and Nigel Harvey of GeoFlow.
Archaeology at Hinkley Point 