Join us on Sunday 1st June, 2-4pm, for an afternoon of tea and cakes, plus tours of St Mary’s and the Pigeon Hut.
WHS are joining forces at St Mary’s to celebrate Walkern’s link to Magna Carta. Our link to this momentous part of history lies in Walkern being the center of the barony of William (III) de Lanvalei. He was one of the 25 barons elected to ensure King John adhered to the Magna Carta e.g. No man is above the Law – not even the king! He didn’t keep his word of course, and war ensued. Ten years later, In 1225, Magna Carta was re-issued by King John’s son, Henry III, who was by then old enough to take the throne. The Walkern Barony had passed to William (III) de Lanvalei’s only surviving child, a daughter named Hawise. It was probably Hawise and her husband who commissioned the effigy at St Mary’s believed to commemorate her father.