“It’s incredibly exciting,” British Museum Director Nicholas Cullinan said of historic feat
Credit: Hulton Archive/Getty
NEED TO KNOW
- The Bayeux Tapestry traveled from France to London in a climate-controlled crate with a French security escort
- Believed to be made in 11th-century England, the historic piece depicts events leading to the Norman Conquest of 1066
- Roughly 100,000 tickets were sold in a day for its exhibition at the British Museum, which starts in September
The Bayeux Tapestry has returned to the United Kingdom for the first time in nearly 1,000 years ahead of a landmark exhibition at the British Museum.
The medieval work of art began a carefully planned journey from Bayeux in northern France on Thursday, July 9, leaving at about 6:15 p.m. local time in a climate-controlled crate under the escort of French security services, according to a statement from France’s Ministry of Culture. It then crossed the English Channel by train.
The 230-foot embroidery arrived in London early the next morning. It was unloaded at the British Museum, where it will go on public display beginning in September.
“It feels extraordinary that after so much work and planning and care and thought that it’s actually happening,” British Museum Director Nicholas Cullinan told the Associated Press. “It’s the first time in 1,000 years that such an important piece of British — French too — history is going to be on these shores,” he continued, adding, “It’s incredibly exciting.”
Believed to have been created in England during the 11th century, the Bayeux Tapestry chronicles the events leading up to the Battle of Hastings and the Norman Conquest of England in 1066, The New York Times reported.
Credit: LOIC VENANCE/AFP via Getty
The tapestry arrived inside a specially designed protective crate enclosed in an aluminum frame, the BBC reported. Museum officials and invited guests — including the French ambassador to the U.K. — watched as the historic artifact was carefully unloaded.
The cargo will spend days getting used to the environment before it’s unpacked and put on display, the AP reported.
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Credit: LOIC VENANCE/AFP via Getty
The outlet noted that roughly 100,000 tickets were sold in the first day that they went on sale.
“It was like trying to get tickets to Glastonbury,” Cullinan said, referring to the famous music festival that takes place in Somerset. “I don’t take for granted that people care that much about a 1,000-year-old embroidery. I think that’s an amazing thing.”
The tapestry will remain on display at the museum from September through July 2027, according to a May 18 news release from The British Museum.
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