Bayeux Tapestry arrives in UK for British Museum exhibition under £800 million UK damage guarantee

The Bayeux Tapestry arrived in the United Kingdom at 02:50 BST on Friday after crossing the Channel via the Eurotunnel. The 70-metre linen embroidery was driven under police guard from a secret location in northern France into a loading bay at the British Museum. The tapestry will be exhibited from 10 September 2026 to 11 July 2027.

It will lie flat beneath a mezzanine so visitors can view its full length. The work depicts 58 scenes of events leading to the Battle of Hastings and the Norman Conquest of England in 1066. It contains 626 characters, 202 horses and only six women.

The loan agreement was finalised in 2025 between French President Emmanuel Macron and UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer. In exchange, the British Museum is lending items from the Sutton Hoo hoard and the Lewis chess pieces. The museum in Bayeux, where the tapestry has been exhibited since 1983, is closed for renovation during the loan period.

The tapestry travelled in a heavy crate encased in an aluminium frame fitted with temperature and humidity regulation and metal spring shock absorbers. Two practice journeys using a textile copy had tested the route and crate beforehand. The museum sold a record 100,000 tickets on the first day of sales.

Nick Cullinan, director of the British Museum, said the arrival marked the tapestry returning to England for the first time in almost 1,000 years. Peter Ricketts, UK special envoy for the loan, said everything possible had been done to avoid damage during transport.

Macron described the loan as a gesture of trust and a sign of the shared desire of France and the United Kingdom to build their future together.