'DOES Magna Carta mean nothing to you? Did she die in vain?' cried Tony Hancock in one of his most memorable moments.

Buried beneath the brouhaha surrounding the Grand Charter's 800th anniversary (and a galaxy of similar 'ground-breaking' events such as Agincourt, Waterloo, Gallipoli, Dunkirk, and VE Day) lies the less known but equally important anniversary of the Battle of Evesham.

Seven hundred and fifty years ago on August 4, 1265 Simon de Montfort (having forced Henry III in 1258 to accept a new form of government known as the Provisions of Oxford, which called together an elected body of representatives from across England to meet at what is considered to be the first 'English Parliament') together with his rebellious barons, was cornered at Evesham and defeated by Prince Edward.

Before de Montfort was killed and his body dismembered, he allegedly said: "May the Lord have mercy upon our souls, as our bodies are theirs."

Our bodies today may not be 'theirs' in quite the same sense but in the run up to a similarly decisive (and potentially divisive) occasion like an EU referendum 'may the Lord have mercy upon our souls.'

– John Muir, Newnham.