RON Tombs has a memento of an event which thrilled thousands of people in Oxford more than a century ago.

Among his collection of postcards is one produced for a pageant which took place in the city in 1907.

The caption reads: “Henry II visited Oxford, accompanied by his little son, afterwards Richard Coeur de Lion.

“He was welcomed by the Mayor and Corporation, to whom he presented the famous Charter of Rights and Privileges, which was subsequently confirmed by King John and is still preserved in the archives of the city.”

The postcard was sent by a woman called Kate to her brother George, who was serving with the Rifle Brigade in Malta.

In a note to him, she reveals that she paid a shilling (5p) to attend the pageant’s dress rehearsal in June 1907.

Mr Tombs, of Farm Road, Abingdon, who collects postcards, writes: “A shilling was a lot of money in those days. It would be interesting to know how much it cost to see the actual pageant.”

The week-long event took place at the end of Broad Walk, near Christ Church, from June 27 to July 3.

A cast of between 3,000 and 4,000 people was recruited to reenact memorable scenes in Oxford’s history.

It was the brainchild of Frank Lascelles, the 30-year-old lord of the manor at Sibford Gower, near Banbury.

Sceptics told him that he was crazy if he thought he could make Oxford people dress up, and even more crazy if he thought he could bring together town and gown.

In the event, everyone fell over themselves to oblige.

Apart from the thousands who came forward to perform, the Prince and Princess of Wales headed the list of patrons.

And all sorts of celebrities were happy to write the scripts, among them the future Poet Laureate Robert Bridges and Oxford University’s Chichele Professor of Modern History, Sir Charles Oman.

Scenes included the legend of St Frideswide, the beginnings of the University, King Henry II and Fair Rosamund, the St Scholastica’s Day riots and the Civil War.

Despite being summer, the choice of dates turned out to be unfortunate. It rained almost non-stop during the preparation and during the run.

The bad weather did not deter the performers – many were seen squelching through the mud in their period costumes – but it affected audiences.

When the biggest and most expensive spectacle in Oxford’s history was over, the profit to be shared by the Radcliffe Infirmary, the Oxford Eye Hospital and other good causes was just £810, a tenth of what the organisers had hoped.

But the event did organiser Frank Lascelles no harm.

On the strength of his success at Oxford, he went on to organise pageants to mark the Tercentenary of Canada and King George V’s Coronation.