This year, it’s finally coming home. Sorry, we’re not on about the World Cup (though our hopes are high), we’re talking about the Bayeux Tapestry. The embroidered masterpiece is due to come back to Britain for the first time in 900 years.
Illustrating the 1066 Norman Conquest and believed to have been created by nuns in Canterbury, the 70-metre-long tapestry will go on display at the British Museum in September. In anticipation of its arrival, the museum is creating a garden installation inspired by the medieval woodland depicted on the piece. It’ll be unveiled on May 16.
‘Tapestry of Trees’ has been devised by garden designer Andy Sturgeon and will be placed at the top of the museum’s front steps. It’ll replicate what the natural world might have felt like around 1066 and include a canopy of 37 silver birch trees and planters filled with woodland grasses and perennial species including Guelder Rose, Hazel, Dog Rose, Foxglove, and Male Fern.
The planters and the rootballs beneath the trees will be enveloped in hessian to echo the texture of the tapestry, dyed to match the blues, yellows and reds of the tapestry. The idea is to give visitors a sense of what the textile’s colours looked like when it was first created.
Andy Sturgeon said: ‘The museum is a vast monochromatic monolith, and I wanted the installation to be colourful and uplifting, and to signify the welcoming of the tapestry to the museum. The trees reach out towards the street entrance as if beckoning it to enter.’
The British Museum says that the installation marks the beginning of its special public programme tied to the category. It adds that it’s also a ‘prelude’ to the Visitor Welcome Pavilions and gardens proposal set to be made reality in 2027.
‘Tapestry of Trees’ will be at the British Museum from May 16 until June 2.
????️ Read about why the once-in-a-lifetime Bayeux Tapestry exhibition is the best thing to see in the UK in 2026.
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