VILLAGERS in Odiham and North Warnborough are gearing up for the 800th anniversary of the sealing of Magna Carta.

The two villages will play a key role in the milestone anniversary celebrations of a document often cited as establishing one of the fundamental principles of today’s legal system.

As reported by The Gazette, villagers have been keen to build on the area’s history for the celebrations.

King John is thought to have set off from Odiham Castle, now on the banks of the Basingstoke Canal, on June 10, 1215, to meet baronial leaders at Runnymede.

It was there that he agreed to demands of the barons, including the principle that no free man should be arrested or imprisoned “unless by legal judgement of his peers, or by the law of the land”.

The focus of the villages’ celebrations will be the Magna Carta Festival, organised by conservation group The Odiham Society, which will take place from Friday, May 22 to Monday, May 25.

Planned activities include a medieval market and ale festival, an archery contest, an archaeological dig and clog and morris dancing.

There will also be trips along the Basingstoke Canal and guided walks around Odiham Castle, where re-enactors will show what life was like in the 13th century.

Other events in the year will include the unveiling of a large embroidery made by volunteers that depicts key moments in Odiham’s history. It will be unveiled by the next High Sheriff of Hampshire, Lady Louisa Portal, at The Bridewell, in The Bury, at 4pm on Saturday, May 16.

There will also be a walk on Saturday, June 6, recreating King John’s journey and ending with a picnic bedside the River Thames, and a sequential bell-ringing event on Sunday, June 14, when Odiham will start a chain of bell-ringing that will end at a church in Runnymede.

John Champion, chairman of the Odiham Society, told The Gazette organisers are planning to visit local schools, including in Basingstoke, to educate children about Magna Carta and promote the event.

He said: “We are enthusiastic and we have got a good team of about 30 people involved in the organisation, which is growing. There’s a great surge of enthusiasm, as well as a few moments of worry.”