The Old Cannon brewery and brasserie in Bury St Edmunds is brewing a new edition of a special cask ale to celebate the town’s links with the 800th anniversary of the Magna Carta.

According to tradition, the barons of England took an oath at the altar of Bury abbey in 1214 to force King John to accept a charter of liberties, which was sealed at Runnymede in Surrey in June the following year and became known as the Magna Carta (meaning Great Charter).

Old Cannon’s celebratory beer will go on sale from Sunday, October 19, to coincide with the start of a six-night sound and light trail, entitled “Our Liberty”, which will enable residents and visitors to explore the role of the charter in Bury’s history.

It is part of a series of activities leading up to the anniversary of the charter next year, and landlady Hannah Clark is hoping that those embarking on the trail will stop off en route at the brewery in Cannon Street and enjoy a taste of the beer.

“We always like to mark special occasions with a one-off brew for the people of Suffolk to enjoy,” she said.

“We brewed this beer for the first time back in February to mark the start of the celebrations and it went down a treat. It is a low hopped ‘reddish’ colour, in style with the beer they used to drink back in the 13th Century.”