Recreating lost charter for town

Anew charter is set to be created as part of the celebrations marking the 850th Anniversary of Newcastle-under-Lyme.

The project has recently been launched to recreate the town’s famous lost charter of 1173, engage school children, and display the historic royal charters from the Brampton Museum archive.

A spokesman for the project said: “We are very pleased to announce that we have been successful with our application to The National Heritage Lottery Fund and can begin working on this exciting new project to mark the 850th anniversary of Newcastle-under-Lyme.

“Working together will be The Brampton Museum, GROW North Staffs, and author and illustrator Glenn Martin James, (recently shortlisted for the Ruth Rendell Award for championing literacy).

“The National Lottery Heritage Fund has provided funding for the project, made possible thanks to National Lottery players, and the team will be working with schools in Newcastle, notably St Marys Catholic Primary School, on Silverdale Road.

“Part of the programme of anniversary celebrations for Newcastle, the project has been planned since 2019, and has seen great support from councillor Simon White, the current Deputy Mayor of Newcastle-under-Lyme, and Cabinet Heritage Champion with responsibility for the 850th arrangements.

Cllr White said: “These celebrations only come about every 50 years.

“They are a real opportunity to allow all our 130,000 residents across our borough to either take part themselves, or simply to enjoy our celebrations, and we are tremendously grateful to The National Lottery Heritage Fund for making the project possible.”

“We received our original charter in 1173 from Henry II, and we are one of a few boroughs in England to have this for so long - we are very proud indeed.

“I am fully behind and supportive of a bid such as this, for our community to enjoy and take part and enjoy these unique celebrations”.

May Bank resident Mr James said: “This is really special. The original charter was the birth certificate of the town.

“When it was granted by King Henry in 1173, giving us borough status, everything just started from there. It meant that Newcastle was free from the control of the church or local lords, we could hold a market, and our merchants could became burgesses, and form guilds. After this, Newcastle just marched forward confidently, and really shot up from there.”

“The original document from the King would have been quite small, and sadly it was lost centuries ago. What better way to celebrate this fabulous birthday, than to create a representation of the original? And by honouring its place, and safely conserving the later historic charters, granted by Henry’s royal descendants? So we say a very big thank you to the Heritage Fund.”

The spokesman for the project continued: “The charter created for the anniversary will be produced by Mr James using authentic period inks and paints, and written with a goose quill, just as documents of the period would have been written.

“The project will commence working in the community and with schools at the end of April, and the team would like to hear from schools who would like to participate in the project. Please see below for contact details.

“Working with the children of the borough, the project will see the children producing and illustrating their own charters, which will accompany a grand display at the museum when the completed document is officially presented to the town later this year.

“Following the exhibition, it is planned that the original historic charters, some granted by Queen Elizabeth I and King James, will be professionally conserved and restored. These beautiful documents are handwritten in ink, beautifully illuminated, and will be on show as part of an exhibition when the project comes to its conclusion later this year.”

Jayne Fair from GROW North Staffs said: “We are so pleased to have been awarded this grant from the Heritage Fund and we are very grateful to National Lottery players who make this possible. I remember being at the 800th celebrations back in 73 as a child and I am very proud to have been able to support this project.

“It will be very interesting to see what the children produce with the support of Glenn and the rest of the team. This is a very special way to mark the 850th anniversary of the borough, something that I hope these children will remember, just as I remember in 73.”

For more information on the project contact Glenn on 0757 2539245 or Elise Turner at Brampton Museum on 01782 742212.

If you would like to be involved, or would like the children of your school to take part, contact Glenn James via author@gmjames.co.uk.

Through the Future High Streets Fund and the Town Deal, almost £50 million has been secured to regenerate our borough.

We have seen the demolition of the old civic offices in Merrial Street and the Zanzibar building, and residents will soon see building work start on the Ryecroft and York Place shopping centre.

I remain committed to ensuring that the future of our town is bright and prosperous, and I will continue to work with Newcastle-underLyme Borough Council in any way I am able to bring more investment into Newcastle in the years ahead to enable the improvements we all want to see.

With that in mind, I recently held my inaugural ‘Newcastle’s Best Local Shop & Market Stall’ competition. We have so many wonderful and unique independent retailers and market stalls here in Newcastle. They are the lifeblood of our community and make the town centre what it is. It’s important that we celebrate and support our local shops and market traders so that they remain here for generations to come.

I encouraged local residents to vote for their favourite independent shop or market stall and join me in supporting the local high street. Thank you to the hundreds of people who voted in the competition for over 50 shops or stalls.

In the local shop section of the competition, first place went to Anasma Greek Bakery, second place went to Mejoolies, and third place went to Tony Price Quality Butchers.

In the market stall element of the competition, the winner was Cheeky Cheesecakes.

Certificates, House of Commons wines and chocolates were given to the winners and runners-up.

I would like to say a huge well done to the winners, runners-up and all those that were nominated. All of these businesses inspire great loyalty amongst their customers and keep people returning again and again.

I hope to run the competition again next year and am looking at running other competitions to showcase Newcastle’s other great businesses in the coming months.

I know you will join me in looking forward with optimism to an even brighter future for Newcastle.

Aaron Bell MP for Newcastle-under-Lyme