The Jurors at Runnymede

The Jurors, by artist Hew Locke, at Runnymede and Ankerwycke, Surrey, composed of 12 intricately worked bronze chairs incorporating imagery representing key moments in the struggle for freedom, rule of law and equal rights, photographed beneath a stormy sky — The Jurors, by artist Hew Locke, at Runnymede and Ankerwycke, Surrey, composed of 12 intricately worked bronze chairs incorporating imagery representing key moments in the struggle for freedom, rule of law and equal rights | © National Trust Images/John Miller

To mark 800 years since the sealing of Magna Carta at Runnymede, the National Trust unveiled The Jurors, an intricate artwork in the Runnymede landscape celebrating the endurance of Magna Carta. Discover the 12 bronze chairs by listening to an audio tour and learn more about the meaning behind this intricate artwork here.

About the artwork

Twelve intricately worked bronze chairs stand together on the ancient meadow at Runnymede, created by artist Hew Locke to examine the changing and ongoing significance of Magna Carta. The Jurors is not a memorial, but an invitation to sit down and reflect upon the histories depicted in the artwork.

Each bronze chair incorporates a main image on the front and back, representing key moments in the struggle for freedom around the world, and is embellished with flowers, keys and other significant symbols. The artist has coloured and polished some areas, as well as adding slashes and gouges to the surfaces. The result is a rich layering of imagery, marks and textures.Download the audio tour

If you’re visiting The Jurors, listen to the audio guide presented by National Trust curator, Rowena Willard-Wright with the artist, Hew Locke, and discover the inspiration behind the artwork.

Listen here

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Video

The Jurors at Runnymede

The video offers an introduction to The Jurors and what you can expect to see during your visit to the artwork.

What does each chair represent?

Use the gallery below to explore each chair and find descriptions of the intricate artwork. Chair one is the chair at the head of the set, furthest from the Runnymede car park and tea-room.

Chair 1

On the front is a portrait of Lillie Lenton, wearing medals and bandages symbolising the imprisonment and activism of suffragettes. On the back, you’ll see an investigation of the United Nations Convention of the Rights of the Child. Here we see it debated in a modern classroom, but it was based upon a 1923 document drafted by British social reformer Eglantyne Jebb.

Chair 2

This chair depicts the 1989 oil spillage in the Gulf of Alaska when the Exxon Valdez tanker ran aground, one of many environmental disasters which led to the creation of a new moral code of environmental conduct. On this chair, you’ll also see one of several representations of prisons. Here is the cover of the Ballad of Reading Gaol by Oscar Wilde, published while he was in exile in France.

Chair 3

Here you’ll find an excerpt from Magna Carta in its original Latin, stating that no one is to be imprisoned without ‘lawful judgement of his peers’ – the fundamental principle of trial by jury. On the back is Cornelia Sorabji, the first woman to practise law in India. She was an advocate for women in purdah, whose religion prevented them from speaking to men outside their family.

Chair 4

This chair depicts the march of blind trade unionists who converged on Trafalgar Square in 1920 in support of the Blind Persons Act, which became law later that year, establishing disability rights in the UK. On the back is an Amerindian headdress, forest and a river clustered with gold nuggets, representing the indigenous land claims that have been addressed since colonisation.

Chair 5

Here you’ll see a portrait of poet Phillis Wheatley, the first published African-American woman. We also see the name Mary Prince, who was the first woman to present an anti-slavery petition to the British parliament and the first black woman to write and publish an autobiography. On the back is a combination of images depicting the Emancipation of the Serfs (1861) by Tsar Alexander II. Serfdom was the feudal system that tied Russian peasants irrevocably to their landlords.

Chair 6

On the front, you’ll find a portable charkha, or hand spinning wheel for cotton, designed by Mahatma Gandhi and used as a political symbol of resistance to British imported goods and British rule. On the back is a depiction of a loudhailer belonging to Harvey Milk, gay rights campaigner and first openly gay person to be elected to public office in California from 1977–78.

Chair 7

On the front of this chair, you’ll see documents being shredded. The destruction or redaction of evidence is a worldwide activity undertaken by states wishing to hide incriminating documentation of their activities. On the back is Nelson Mandela's prison cell, where he served 18 years of his life sentence for sabotage and conspiracy to overthrow the state.

Chair 8

On the back are two representations of freedom of speech: in public and online. In 2014, Sir Tim Berners-Lee, inventor of the world wide web, called for an online Magna Carta to protect and enshrine the independence of the medium he created and the rights of its users worldwide. On the front of the chair are many portraits. These represent ‘The Disappeared’ – a collective name for those who have been taken away at the behest of a state or political organisation across the world.

Chair 9

Here you’ll find representations of 'The Golden Rule' that states you should treat others as you would wish to be treated yourself, a phrase that is expressed in The Jurors in 14 languages. On the back is a boat carrying refugees inscribed with the names of sea vessels connected to legal cases which marked changes to maritime law, the responsibilities of nations towards refugees, and maritime search and rescue protocols.

Chair 10

On the front is Chinese script that describes the Confucian principles of Ren (humaneness), Li (ritual) and Yi (justice). These ideals are at the core of Confucian ideas of how a society should be organised. On the back is the striking hollow boab tree found in Australia. These trees were adapted in the 1890s by police for use as temporary prisons for aboriginal prisoners. Each date and name refers to the ever-developing history of aboriginal Australians, their land and human rights.

Chair 11

On the front of this chair Ancient Egyptian scales are topped with the head of Ma'at, the goddess of truth, justice and balance. Ma'at's symbolism is still apparent in the western personification of Lady Justice. The back depicts the ship Zong, from which 133 slaves were thrown overboard in 1781. The owners made an insurance claim for the loss of their human cargo and the resulting legal case caused public outcry. On the sails, the west African symbol Epa represents captivity, law and justice.

Chair 12

Here you’ll see the house in Yangon, Burma, where politician Aung San Suu Kyi was held under house arrest for 15 out of 21 years until her release in 2010, despite her political party having fairly won government elections in Burma. On the back we see the xiezhi, a legendary creature and symbol of justice and law in Chinese mythology. Xiezhi is shown on The Jurors surrounded by scratches and gouges, as though made by its sharp claws.

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The artist behind The Jurors

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The artist behind the Jurors

In the video below, Hew Locke, the artist behind The Jurors, talks about his inspiration and the process of creating these 12 intricate bronze chairs.

Locke's work varies from large-scale beaded wall-hangings through to small-scale, layered drawings. The most prominent elements of Locke’s work are emblems of power: portraits of royalty, coats of arms, public statues and share certificates.

Locke reproduces these emblems, adding embellishments and ornaments, often from different time periods – coats of arms are re-made in a string of beads, royal portraits rendered in plastic flowers and jewellery, also used to adorn photographs of statues.

Locke is fascinated by history and how events of the past are recalled and represented today, making him an astute choice for the Runnymede public art commission. He was born in Scotland in 1959 and was brought up from an early age in Guyana, until he returned to the UK in 1980.

In Guyana, a former colony and newly independent Commonwealth country, he grew up surrounded by images of Queen Elizabeth II and other symbols of British colonial power.

Locke’s use of these images in his artwork appears to be as much about adorning and celebrating them, as it is about re-imaging and perhaps critiquing their power.