Museum report·London
Bayeux Tapestry Opens at British Museum in Museum's Biggest Ever Show
The 70-metre Bayeux Tapestry went on public display at the British Museum on September 10, its first showing on English soil in nearly 1,000 years. First-batch tickets generated a record £2.5 million in a single day.
The 11th-century embroidery, on loan from France until July 2027 under a historic agreement, is displayed flat and in one continuous length for the first time inside a custom climate-controlled case. It is the most expensive exhibition in the museum's history, with £1.2 million in transport costs funded by a £5 million pledge from sponsor Igor Tulchinsky. When tickets went on sale July 1, the museum recorded its biggest ever ticketing day as over 80,000 people joined the online queue, and the first tranche sold out within hours.
