The Bayeux Tapestry: British Museum Display, Dates, Tickets

The Bayeux tapestry, an almost thousand-year-old artwork that depicts events leading up to the Norman conquest of England and the Battle of Hastings, will be on display in the British Museum later this year.

The roughly 70-metre-long artwork is on a controversial loan from its usual French abode.

“This will be the first time the Bayeux Tapestry has been in the UK since it was made, almost 1,000 years ago,” Dr Nicholas Cullinan, OBE, director of the British Museum, said.

Recently, the British Museum revealed how it will display the UNESCO-designated tapestry in what they call a “first look”, too, with an outdoor display already visible.

Here’s everything you need to know:

It’ll be out for us to see from 10 September 2026 to 11 July 2027.

Tickets will first go live on 1 July, 2026.

“Members will need to book a free, timed ticket for The Bayeux Tapestry in advance, available from 16 June,” the British Museum’s site added.

The tapestry will be on display in The Sainsbury Exhibitions Gallery, Room 30.

The museum will lay the entire 70-metre-long tapestry flat “for the first time”.

This is a significant change to its usual display. In its Normandy home, the Bayeux tapestry has been stored vertically, rolled up in a vitrine; “In previous permanent displays, the Tapestry has been displayed vertically and from 1700 until 1842 it was usually rolled out for academics and important individuals to see”.

It’ll lie under a specially-made display case. That means visitors will be able to enjoy all 58 of its meticulously embroidered scenes, and, the British Museum said, offers new opportunities for “digital elements”.

It’ll be surrounded by relevant items from the British Museum’s own collection, as well as some loans, like a charter of Edward the Confessor granting lands to Westminster Abbey and a horde of silver pennies believed to have been buried for safekeeping during the Norman invasion.

The Museum called the display a “40-minute experience”.

The Museum has put out a Tapestry of Trees, including 37 silver birch trees, which will be on display from 16 May to 2 June 2026.

These trees will “create a canopy across the Museum’s forecourt, their black and white bark echoing shades from the Tapestry and their branches casting a dappled light on the ground,” the Museum said.

This is completely free and includes work from garden designer Andy Sturgeon.

Trees are used as a storytelling device and a divider throughout the tapestry.

The prices are £33 for adult standard tickets. Off-peak pricing is £27, while those attending during super-off-peak hours can get in for £25.

Prices differ for disabled visitors, students, jobseekers, young adults, and those with a National Art Pass. Members and under-16s can go free.

The tapestry has a long history with England. Not only does it show events surrounding the Norman conquest, but, the British Museum said, it was “Likely commissioned by a Norman patron and made by English embroiderers, using manuscript drawings from Canterbury.”

But that link has always existed, while the tapestry has stayed in France for the guts of a millennium. A loan was first suggested by French President Emmanuel Macron in 2018, the BBC said, which became a reality in 2025.

Dr Cullinan has since said, “The Bayeux Tapestry is one of the most important and unique cultural artefacts in the world, which illustrates the deep ties between Britain and France and has fascinated people across geographies and generations.

“It is hard to overstate the significance of this extraordinary opportunity of displaying it at the British Museum, and we are profoundly grateful to everyone involved.”

One of the major concerns some experts have about the loan is that the tapestry is incredibly old and delicate, rendering its journey from one country to another an “unacceptable” risk.

For instance, art specialist Didier Rykner said that “Tapestry specialists, the restorers working on it, and the curators, say there is a risk of tears and material loss due to handling and vibrations during transport. It is unacceptable to risk this absolutely unique work being damaged”.

In 2025, The Financial Times claimed the tapestry would be insured for “about” £800 million by the UK Treasury indemnity.

The administrative arrangement for the loan reads, “the British Party agrees to provide ‘nail-to-nail’ indemnity cover through the UK Government Indemnity Scheme, based on the value of the Tapestry provided by the French State.”