Charter Day at the Cloister

Charter Day at the Ephrata Cloister is Sunday, March 14th and it’s definitely an event worth experiencing.  Combine it with a stay at the Smithton Inn and you can truly immerse yourself in Pennsylvania and Cloister history!

The day recognizes the founding of Pennsylvania when William Penn received the Charter establishing the Commonwealth from King Charles II of England in 1681. This year’s Cloister event permits FREE ADMISSION to everyone for the day. The site will open at noon and remain open until 5:00 pm. Staff and volunteers will be stationed throughout the historic site offering admission to buildings and short talks on historic subjects.

The Ephrata Cloister Choir Chorus will perform in the historic Meetinghouse at 2:00, 3:00 and 4:00 pm. Watch this video for an advance preview of this fantastic choir, recorded during their Christmas at the Cloister concert this past December.

William Penn received a royal charter from King Charles II of England in 1681 to cover a debt of £16,000 owed by the monarch to Penn's father Admiral William Penn, by which he became the proprietor of a huge tract of land in what is now Pennsylvania. Just three months after the king signed the patent, young Penn had two agencies selling land there and also dispatched his cousin William Markham as his deputy. Markham arrived in the vast new colony in July 1681, charged with asserting the proprietors' authority over existing settlements, appointing a council, organizing judicial systems, selecting the site for Philadelphia, and settling the question of the boundary between Pennsylvania and Maryland.