Bayeux Tapestry delivered to British Museum in dead of night

artJul 10, 202632651

The 11th-century Bayeux Tapestry arrived in London at 02:50, escorted from a secret location in northern France by a police guard and driven into a British Museum loading bay ahead of a September display. The 70-metre embroidery, made up of 58 scenes depicting events leading to the Battle of Hastings and the Norman Conquest of 1066, was removed from a heavy aluminium-framed crate in front of a select crowd that included the French ambassador and British Museum director Nick Cullinan. Cullinan said it was "returning to England for the first time in almost 1,000 years" and called the arrival "rather extraordinary." Project curator Millie Horton-Insch said the object's closeness in time to the events it depicts made the moment profound and left her emotional. The nine-month loan is backed by the French government under an agreement finalised between President Emmanuel Macron and Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer last year; Bayeux Museum in Normandy is closed for renovation. In exchange the British Museum is lending items including pieces from the Sutton Hoo hoard and the 12th-century Lewis chess pieces. The loan has prompted disquiet in France, where a petition called the transfer a "heritage crime," and the artist David Hockney wrote before his death that moving the embroidery risked endangering it. Tens of thousands of people rushed for tickets to see the Tapestry in the UK.

Carl T. Bergstrom

@carlbergstrom.com

British Museum sets historic precedent by surreptitiously acquiring domestic antiquity.

1992h ago

Jon4

You think we're going to give it back? Ha!

ruggledome.bsky.social4

Forgive me as I bring up the past.... in a technical sense it's embroidery bsky.app/profile/alan...

JC Dubacq2

There has been one century of war about the fine points of this "domestic" thing.

Ice Nine1

Ah a tapestry of dicks, quite appropriate really

Jill Lawless

@jilllawless.bsky.social

The Bayeux Tapestry is in this box. It arrived overnight at the British Museum after leaving France for the first time in 900 years.

1354h ago

Gregory Mendham 4

This was the photo sent to the director of the museum, who wasn't in at the time, to say the delivery has been completed after they left it on the doorstep.

Quoting this

Dr Duncan Robertson58

I was sort of expecting it to be in a very long envelope.

Cora Peeta M 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️🇦🇶🇺🇳18

Going to be so freaky when they find the sequel on the back

Ned Hartley13

Danny Ocean is about to reveal that he actually stole it yesterday in a complicated and narratively unsatisfying flashback.

Thomas I-G8

Mind blowing that moving it like this is even possible for something so delicate and and so old. I also like how it's being transported like Hannibal Lecter.

juux6

Good luck getting it back, France The British Museum:

Mint Royale4

Great. And now they’ve got to fit all that packaging in the recycling, which is already full because they forgot to put the bin out on Monday night.

Chris Jones4

They open up the box and discover, to their horror, that it's an embroidery not a tapestry

Tad Harsh3

France should have totally shipped a PS5 box with a brick in it.

Peadar Ó Guilín3

Will there be an unboxing video? I can't wait until I get mine.

A Valiant Tart2

Overnight? Do the French know?

Rebecca Tyson

@tyguson.bsky.social

Norman ships were projected onto the White Cliffs of Dover as the Bayeux Tapestry arrived at the British Museum last night. #MedievalSky www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

301h ago

Alison

@alisondennison.bsky.social

This generosity from France is v sus. We open the box and loads of Norman soldiers stream out apnews.com/article/baye...

362h ago

Leonie V. Hicks

@lvhicks.bsky.social

I'm quite emotional (too hot and sleep deprived), but this really is momentous. I hope the Tapeatey's visit will engage and enthuse people in the wonders of medieval studies. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article... #BayeuxTapestry #medievalsky #skystorians

262h ago

Margot Finn

@eicathomefinn.bsky.social

'At 02:50, chaperoned from a secret location in northern France by a police guard, it was driven into a loading bay at the British Museum, which will put it on display in September.' The embroidery has landed.

292h ago

Cazoo

@cazoo.bsky.social

If you can't get tickets for the Bayeux in London, go and see the British Bayeux in Reading Museum. It's free and I might even take you for lunch... Britain's Bayeux Tapestry | Reading Museum share.google/7ftfi2OGsDSI...

223h ago

Ginny1

I saw it in-situ about 10 years ago. It was ok but not sure I would want to get tickets/queue/herded to see it. The Reading Library one seems much more honest.

matsyendrasana.bsky.social1

I saw it, with my parents, at Bayeux, when I was a kid. A bit spoilt by the presence of a British school trip being silly. I was a serious child.

Sean ☀️✨🌙1

Saw it in Bayeux a good few years ago, quite impressive as I recall!!

Le Monde

@lemonde.fr

La tapisserie de Bayeux est arrivée au British Museum, à Londres, pour un prêt historique

142h ago

Jason

@nickmotown.bsky.social

It was the Bayeux Tapestry that first revealed Danny Dyer's royal ancestry. One tableau in particular clearly shows Harold II calling William the Conqueror a "FVCKIN MVG".

121h ago

Dr Sarah Brand

@sarahgailbrand.bsky.social

Did they just chuck it at the front door of the British Museum, ring the door bell then bugger off? www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

152h ago

Liz Anderson

@lizanderson.bsky.social

It’s here! 🙌 🇫🇷 🇬🇧 Bayeux Tapestry delivered to British Museum in dead of night www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

112h ago

The Journal

@thejournal.ie

The medieval Bayeux Tapestry has arrived in London after a hugely complicated journey to leave France for the first time in more than 900 years for an exhibition in the British capital jrnl.ie/7097437

92h ago

Rima I Anabtawi

@rimaanabtawi.bsky.social

It’s home. ♥️ After almost 1,000 years, the Bayeux Tapestry is back on English soil. apnews.com/article/baye...

102h ago

Louise, Prof/Dr

@louiselocock.bsky.social

"Two old nations coming together to look at their shared history and that is very special" www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

92h ago

John Cheall

@jcheall.bsky.social

The arrival of the #BayeuxTapestry is a good time to remind listeners that land ownership in England is substantially unchanged since the Norman Conquest when all was divided up by William and his lieutenants. Incredibly we still live with it. #r4today

83h ago

1 source

bbc.co.ukBayeux Tapestry delivered to British Museum in dead of night

Bayeux Tapestry delivered to British Museum in dead of nightart Art Fight 2026 gets underway as artists post attacks and team cardsart

Bayeux Tapestry delivered to British Museum in dead of night

Related