Salisbury Barons - The Runnymede Baron

The Runnymede Baron, painted by Martin Ridout, shows the scene of Runnymede where John pledged the Great Charter, and as well the five rivers of Salisbury. Magna Carta in 1215 and the founding of Salisbury Cathedral in 1220, are closely connected, not just tenuously by cause and effect, but by the people central to both events and the physical locations, both being water meadows. My poem draws the clear link between the two occasions. This Baron has a quite scary look about him! Poem and Film by Alan Doel