{"id":619589,"date":"2026-06-03T21:31:08","date_gmt":"2026-06-03T21:31:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/619589\/"},"modified":"2026-06-03T21:31:08","modified_gmt":"2026-06-03T21:31:08","slug":"of-course-we-will-give-it-back-bayeux-tapestry-set-for-secret-journey-across-channel-bayeux-tapestry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/619589\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Of course we will give it back\u2019: Bayeux tapestry set for secret journey across Channel | Bayeux tapestry"},"content":{"rendered":"

As the Bayeux tapestry<\/a> wends its way across the Channel in a top secret operation there will be no jolts, no bumps, no shakes or vibrations \u2013 unlike the voyage of William the Conqueror whose 1066 victory at Hastings the artefact recounts.<\/p>\n

\u201cNothing has been left to chance,\u201d Catherine P\u00e9gard, the French minister of culture, told a gathering to mark the historic loan, which will be physically achieved with the tapestry, which is really an embroidery, transported in a specially constructed cradle within a container, the minister said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll and any vibration that could pose a risk to the fibres of the tapestry will be absorbed. The container is the result of scientific and technical savoir faire and has been tried and tested,\u201d she said, adding that she could not give details of when and how the tapestry would be moved \u201cfor security reasons\u201d.<\/p>\n

Humidity in the container will be controlled and the rails on which the tapestry is hung have been fitted with shock absorbers.<\/p>\n

\u201cNever in the history of moving such an object have so many test runs been carried out. Everything has been thought of,\u201d P\u00e9gard said.<\/p>\n

The 11th-century work, measuring 70 metres long (230ft) and 50cm (20ins) high, depicts the Norman invasion of England in 1066, in which William the Conqueror defeated King Harold of England, who is represented in his final scenes in the embroidery with an arrow in his eye. It is due to go on display at the British Museum<\/a> on 10 September until 11 July 2027.<\/p>\n

The loan was agreed after the tapestry\u2019s permanent home in the northern French town of Bayeux in Normandy closed for renovations and for a new building dedicated to the artefact to be completed.<\/p>\n

It has been seldom moved since the middle ages. Once was in the winter of 1803-1804 when Napoleon Bonaparte feared an English invasion and ordered it to be transported to Paris. In the second world war, France\u2019s German occupiers first transferred it by van to a repository then requisitioned it and moved it to the Louvre in Paris as allied troops advanced after D-day.<\/p>\n

For the British side, Lord Peter Ricketts, the former British ambassador to France and UK special envoy, said he would first answer one crucial question. \u201cYes, of course we will give the tapestry back, safe and sound,\u201d he told a gathering of French politicians, officials and specialists.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd we will entirely guarantee the protection of this precious work for the time it is with us.\u201d<\/p>\n

Workers prepare to pack the Bayeux tapestry to transfer it from its home in northern France. Photograph: Lou Benoist\/AP<\/p>\n

The British Museum said it would be displayed flat in one continuous length in a specially made case. It will be shown along with other works from UK and European institutions, including illustrated manuscripts, to put it into historical context.<\/p>\n

In return, treasures from the British Museum representing all four nations of the UK \u2013 including Sutton Hoo treasures<\/a> and the Lewis chess pieces \u2013 are to be sent to museums in Normandy.<\/p>\n

The tapestry is considered one of the key artefacts in English and British history.<\/p>\n

The loan of the tapestry, which is already in a fragile state, is controversial. Conservators, historians and heritage experts fear the move will damage the tapestry, a Unesco-listed artefact, and were angry at the French president<\/a> Emmanuel Macron\u2019s 2025 offer to allow it to travel to the UK for 18 months.<\/p>\n

P\u00e9gard said: \u201cSome people ask if we have the right to move this precious object key to our history and I understand them. For the conservators their first mission is to conserve, but this is a work that lives through the eyes of those who see it.\u201d<\/p>\n

P\u00e9gard added the loan would \u201callow the English people to contemplate on their own soil the act that was the birth of their nation\u201d.<\/p>\n

More than an entente cordiale, it was an entente amicale \u2013 an act of friendship \u201cmarking 1,000 years of shared history \u2026 and occasional rivalry\u201d, she said.<\/p>\n

The exact provenance of the tapestry is unknown. It is thought to have been commissioned by William\u2019s half-brother Bishop Odo of Bayeux in the 1070s to decorate the city\u2019s cathedral and was almost certainly sewn by English women.<\/p>\n

It features 58 scenes created in four stitches and thread in 10 natural dye colours, including 623 humans, more than 700 animals, 37 buildings and 41 ships and other vessels, plus 93 or 94 male genitalia depending on which British expert is counting.<\/p>\n

Ricketts said everyone in the UK knew the story of 1066 and the Battle of Hastings.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy such a fascination for a battle we lost?\u201d he said. \u201cBecause it is central to our national story.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"As the Bayeux tapestry wends its way across the Channel in a top secret operation there will be…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":619590,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[59,57,58,50,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-619589","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-united-kingdom","tag-gb","tag-great-britain","tag-greatbritain","tag-news","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/619589","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=619589"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/619589\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/619590"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=619589"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=619589"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=619589"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}