Funding for Magna Carta tourist trail in Kent

Magna Carta Rediscovered will be staged in Faversham, Canterbury, Maidstone and Rochester

A touring exhibition celebrating Kent and Medway's connections with the Magna Carta has been awarded £81,000 in Heritage Lottery Funding.

Visit Kent will be given the money for an audio-visual display, which will be staged in Faversham, Canterbury, Maidstone and Rochester during 2015.

It will feature a Magna Carta copy issued to barons of Faversham in 1300.

The exhibition is part of the 800th anniversary of the sealing of the charter in Runneymede, Surrey, in 1215.

'Immensely proud'

It was a peace treaty signalling the end of a conflict between King John and the barons who were in revolt.

The document is seen as the cornerstone of the development of constitutional law in England.

Magna Carta Rediscovered will interpret the importance of the medieval Magna Carta to contemporary concepts of the freedom of the individual, democracy and society.

Sandra Matthews Marsh, chief executive of Visit Kent, said: "Magna Carta Rediscovered will bring visitors into the county to see for themselves our key Magna Carta locations including Canterbury, one of the five charter towns and our very own Magna Carta held by Faversham Town Council."

One of six

Visit Kent said there were nine copies of the Magna Carta, dating from 1215 to 1300, at various different locations including the British Library, Faversham, Hereford Cathedral and Lincoln.

David Simmons, from Faversham Town Council, said: "We are immensely proud to be in possession of a Magna Carta and we look forward to sharing this important document with the people of Kent and its many visitors during the 800th anniversary.

The tourist trail in Kent is one of six taking place across the country.

Magna Carta Rediscovered will open at The Alexander Centre in Faversham on 23 May, 2015.

The Magna Carta was sealed in Runneymede, Surrey, in June 1215