A private island in the River Thames where the medieval English King John is thought to have been forced to accept Magna Carta has come to the market for £3.95 million (Dh24.8m).
Magna Carta Island, a 3.72 acre island near Wraysbury in Berkshire where the English king is believed to have first agreed a set of civil liberties in writing to his subjects is being marketed by the estate agent Sotheby’s International Realty.
The island is located in the middle of the river, opposite the meadow of Runnymede, where historians believe that King John’s angry barons camped for days in 1215 before forcing the king to agree to set them down on paper.
They say that the king chose the spot because it was situated at a gentle curve of the river which would keep enemy long bows out of range and was protected by a circle of walnut trees.
And 800 years after the charter was accepted by the beleaguered king, visitors to the island can still see the stone on which the charter is said to have been signed.
Today the island comes with a grade II-listed six-bedroom house, built in 1834 in which the stone is housed in a specially built Charter Room. Its walls have been hung with the crest of King John and those of the 25 barons elected to keep the Magna Carta safe.
The house, which was built by George Simon Harcourt, lord of the manor and sheriff of the county during the reign of William IV, also features a dining room that seats up to 20 people, an outdoor swimming pool and expansive grounds including 402 metres of riverbank frontage on the Thames providing mooring for boats.
Also included in the sale is a separate two-bedroom cottage.
“This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to buy a piece of world history where the rule of law was first forged,” said Sotheby’s head of region Stuart Cole. “Not only is Magna Carta Island a idyllic private island in the Thames, it is widely acknowledged to have been the site of the signing of the Magna Carta, perhaps the most significant charter in history. I look forward to finding the next custodian of the island and its Charter Room.”
lbarnard@thenational.ae
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