Bayeux Schools Programme launched in Hastings

The nationwide programme is designed by the museum to communicate the story and significance of the Bayeux Tapestry to as many people as possible, and make it more accessible to school children, especially in 1066 Country.

Schools in 1066 Country are receiving priority booking for free tickets to see the Bayeux Tapestry when it goes on display at the British Museum later this year.

Ms Dollimore encouraged visitors to the exhibition to ‘take a further step back in time and visit 1066 Country, the place where it all happened’. She said: " I am urging many of our transport providers to make sure that we can make it easier for tourists to visit 1066 Country during this important moment, and that includes urging Southeastern to look at how it can make it quicker for tourists to visit our area by train."

British Museum Director Nicholas Cullinan said: “Since this loan was announced last year, we have been committed to making this a significant cultural moment for the whole of the UK. The Bayeux Around Britain programme will help ensure that this once-in-a-generation exhibition is not confined to Bloomsbury but accessible to tens of millions of people around the country.”

Ms Dollimore, said: "Although in Hastings we have often been at the centre of historical events, we have not always felt the benefits.

"The Bayeux Tapestry’s return to our shores for the first time in almost a thousand years will be the exhibition of a generation, and I pay tribute to all involved on both sides of the Channel. I have been working hard with the British Museum and the Government to ensure that our area, and our school children are truly part of this national moment and I’m delighted that children from 1066 Country will now receive free priority tickets for the Bayeux Tapestry exhibition at the British Museum.

" And the loan of the Stothart Cast to the Hastings Museum also marks an important collaboration as well as the Hastings Embroidery going back on show. We want to encourage those who visit the tapestry in London to come down to the South Coast and see where the action took place, and enjoy our excellent hospitality when they do. We promise visitors will get a warmer welcome than those in 1066!”

The Stothart Cast features depictions of Harold Godwinson, William the Conqueror and a medieval knight. They were taken from wax impressions lifted from the Bayeux Tapestry in 1816, making them some of the most direct replicas ever taken from the tapestry.

On October 14, the Museum will also broadcast live into hundreds of classrooms across the country, bringing the story of the Bayeux Tapestry to life through a curriculum-linked schools event for Key Stage 2 and Key Stage 3 pupils. Delivered in partnership with the British Library, English Heritage and Norwich Museum Service, the broadcast is designed particularly for schools unable to visit the exhibition in person, the interactive broadcast will become the largest classroom in the country with direct access to experts and a live question-and-answer session.

The Bayeux Tapestry Exhibition Presented by Igor Tulchinsky, will open on 10 September 2026 and run until 11 July 2027. Tickets for general admission go on sale from 1 July.

The Bayeux Tapestry is a 70-metre-long masterpiece telling the story of the conquest of England in 1066 by William, Duke of Normandy. The embroidery in wool thread on linen cloth was created in the UK and dates back to the 11th century.

Through 58 scenes, 626 characters and 202 horses, the tapestry gives an account of the medieval period in Normandy and England like no other. It provides information about civil and military architecture, armour and seafaring in the Viking tradition, as well as precious details of everyday life.