For the first time in nearly a millennium, the Bayeux Tapestry will return to England thanks to a historic loan agreement between the UK and France. The iconic tapestry depicting the Norman invasion of England and the Battle of Hastings will be loaned to the British Museum in the autumn of 2026. In exchange, the British Museum will loan some of the greatest treasures in its collection, including pieces from the Sutton Hoo ship burial and the Lewis Chessmen, to museums in Normandy.
Woven in around 1077, 11 years after the William, Duke of Normandy, conquered England, the embroidered linen is 224 feet long and 2’4″ high and is believed to have been produced in or around Canterbury. It was commissioned by Odo, Bishop of Bayeux, brother of William, so it moved to Normandy as soon as it was completed.
The multi-colored wool thread embroidery is a unique depiction of 12th century France and England captured in 58 scenes with 626 people, 202 horses and 93 penises. (Duke William’s horse has the largest one.) Scene 57 shows King Harold Godwinson’s death from an arrow in the eye, labelled by the stitched inscription above the scene as “Hic Harold rex interfectus est,” meaning “Here King Harold is killed.”
This is the second attempt to arrange a homecoming for the tapestry. In 2018, France and the UK announced that it would be loaned for a 2022 exhibition, but that plan was scrapped when a three-year study of the Bayeux Tapestry found that it was simply too fragile to move before a comprehensive program of restoration and repair addressed the tens of thousands of points of weakness, including 30 unstabilized tears.
The conservation is now complete and the Bayeux Tapestry is stable enough to cross the Channel once more. It will be at the British Museum for a year while the Bayeaux Museum is closed for renovations.
Nicholas Cullinan, Director of the British Museum, said: ‘The Bayeux Tapestry is one of the most important and unique cultural artefacts in the world, which illustrates the deep ties between Britain and France and has fascinated people across geographies and generations. It is hard to overstate the significance of this extraordinary opportunity of displaying it at the British Museum and we are profoundly grateful to everyone involved. This will be the first time the Bayeux Tapestry has been in the UK since it was made, almost 1,000 years ago. We are also delighted to send treasures from the British Museum representing all four nations of the UK – including Sutton Hoo treasures and the Lewis chess pieces – to France in return.
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