Magna Carta goes back on display after Salisbury Cathedral theft bid

Staff at Salisbury Cathedral had to wrestle a man wielding a hammer to the ground after the attempted theft in October last year.

Alarms were set off at the cathedral when an attempt was made to smash the protective glass box surrounding the ancient manuscript.

Visitors watched in horror as the protective glass casing around the historic document in the Chapter House of the building was smashed, leaving three holes in the display.

The manuscript, which is more than 800-years-old, was saved from being damaged by a second layer of glass.

Since the incident, the Magna Carta has been held in storage while work was carried out to replace the outer casing.

Emily Naish, cathedral archivist and curator of the Magna Carta exhibition, said: “Something like this is an archivist’s nightmare and it was a great relief to know that the charter had escaped unscathed.

“Luckily, no glass dust or shards had penetrated the seal on the inner case. I am thankful that both cases did the job they were designed to do and the document emerged unharmed.”

The original case was made by specialist showcase makers Click Netherfield and installed at the cathedral in 2015 as part of Magna Carta 800 – the celebrations marking the 800th anniversary of the sealing of the 1215 Magna Carta in…