Exhibition: Magna Carta original on display at UK's top court

Westminster Abbey has agreed to loan its engrossment of the version of the charter sealed by Edward I in 1300 to the Supreme Court, its neighbour on Parliament Square, as part of the Court's special exhibition to mark 800 years of the Great Charter's legal legacy.

The Supreme Court's summer exhibition will highlight the principal legal rights Magna Carta was intended to protect in 1215, and explore how similar rights were protected beyond England in other parts of what is now the UK.

Interpretative panels will also explore how the legal significance of Magna Carta developed over time and was used by the courts to protect fundamental freedoms, as well as to inspire emerging nations to place the rule of law at the heart of their written constitutions.

The 1300 engrossment which will sit at the centre of the exhibition was one of several reformulations issued during the thirteenth century, and copies were sent to sheriffs across the country to be read to the public twice a year. The Dean and Chapter of Westminster have held a copy for as long as their records stretch back, although this copy appears to have been the one initially sent to the sheriff of Wiltshire. How it made its way to the Abbey in the Middle Ages is unclear.

The document is in good condition, and will be kept in a specially-designed secure cabinet that will protect it from light exposure whenever visitors are not close to the cabinet.

Alongside the copy of an original Magna Carta, visitors will be able to see a rare copy of the first unabridged English language edition of the charter. George Ferrers' translation, first published in 1534, was corrected and reprinted in 1542, and a copy of that publication has been lent to the Court by the library of the Faculty of Advocates in Edinburgh.

The exhibition will be open to the public on weekdays between 3 August and 25 September, during which time the court is not sitting.