West Sussex connections

Weald & Downland Living Museum is joining the national programme marking the return of the Bayeux Tapestry.

The museum will be a national partner in Bayeux Around Britain, the British Museum’s nationwide programme marking the historic return of the Bayeux Tapestry to England for the first time in nearly 1,000 years.

Hannah Miller, head of interpretation and collections at Weald & Downland Living Museum, said: “The partnership provides an important West Sussex presence, with a local connection to the tapestry through Bosham Church, depicted before Harold sails for Normandy.

“The Museum will create a special exhibition for 2027, bringing specially commissioned audiovisual material, high-resolution images of the Tapestry and interpretation developed by the British Museum’s curatorial teams together with its own collections, historic buildings and local history. The aim is to help visitors explore the Bayeux story and connect it with the everyday world and lives of people at the time.

“Its entire collection is designated by Arts Council England as being of national importance and spans around 1,000 years of rural life in south-east England, including more than 50 historic buildings, extensive rural artefacts and a reconstruction of an Anglo-Saxon hall house based on archaeological evidence from around 950AD.

“The Museum will also take part in a wider programme of activities associated with Bayeux Around Britain, alongside its own hands-on approach to learning through doing, with opportunities around craft and making, family activities and learning for schools.”

Hannah added: “We are really looking forward to working in partnership with the British Museum and being part of Bayeux Around Britain. The return of the Bayeux Tapestry to England is an extraordinary moment, and this programme gives us the opportunity to bring its story to audiences here in West Sussex.

“What is particularly exciting is the chance to make our own connections with this remarkable story. Through our exhibition, collections, learning programme and activities, we will be able to explore the tapestry in different ways and give people who may not be able to travel to London the chance to be part of this national moment.”

Bayeux Around Britain has been created to ensure that this historic moment reaches people across the UK. Through a network of more than 60 partner organisations including museums, galleries, libraries, archives, cathedrals and heritage sites, the programme will ensure that Bayeux Tapestry-related activity is within an hour’s drive of two-thirds of the country.

Nicholas Cullinan, director of the British Museum, 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.”

The original Bayeux Tapestry will be displayed at the British Museum in London until July 11 2027. The Weald and Downland’s Bayeux Around Britain exhibition is planned to run from February to June 2027. More details about the exhibition and a programme of associated events, workshops and learning activities will be announced over the coming months.