The Lacock Magna Carta

Lacock's link to the US Constitution

|During the Second World War, the 1215 copy of the Magna Carta from Lincoln Cathedral had been kept safely in Fort Knox in Kentucky by the United States government. When it was returned to Britain after the war ended, the Library of Congress was keen to borrow another copy of Magna Carta to put on display to the public in Washington DC.

In July 1945, shortly after the gifting of the Lacock Magna Carta to the British Museum had been announced in the press, the Library of Congress, recognising the importance of this document in American law, contacted the British authorities to ask if they could borrow it. This began a series of discussions and negotiations that eventually led to the Lacock Magna Carta being displayed in the Library of Congress for two years from December 1946.

The Library of Congress specifically requested the loan of the Lacock Magna Carta, as Sir William Blackstone studied and transcribed this particular copy of the definitive 1225 issue for his four-volume work, Commentaries on the Laws of England, published in 1755. It was very influential and quickly found its way onto the desk of almost every American lawyer in the late 1700s. This publication was then an essential reference volume in drawing up the American Constitution in 1787.

However, before the British Museum were able to agree to the loan, (the museum was prevented by the British Museum Act of 1924 from lending any of their collections abroad), they had to have a new Act of Parliament created to allow them to send the Lacock Magna Carta to America.

Parliament, in a display of almost universal support, debated and passed a special Act that allowed the Lacock Magna Carta to leave for the United States. This collective appreciation for the historical artefact is a testament to its significance in British and American history.