The Bayeux Tapestry is set to return to the UK for the first time since it was created more than 900 years ago, it can be revealed.
The 70-metre-long medieval tapestry, which chronicles the Norman Conquest of 1066, will go on display from September until July next year in The Sainsbury Exhibitions Gallery at the British Museum in London,
The exhibition will be announced by culture secretary Lisa Nandy and her French counterpart Rachida Dati as part of French president Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte’s state visit to the UK. Ms Nandy described the tapestry as “iconic”.
The tapestry, one of the world's most famous pieces of medieval art, will be temporarily swapped for the Anglo-Saxon treasures of the Sutton Hoo ship burial. Museums in Normandy will host the Sutton Hoo treasures. The Lewis chessmen – ivory pieces dating back to the 12th century that were discovered in Scotland in 1831 – will also be loaned to France.
The excavation of Sutton Hoo, in Suffolk, found what is believed to be the 1,400-year-old burial of a king. The find included golden coins, a sword, a shield, and an iron helmet symbolic of the Anglo-Saxon period.
The Bayeux tapestry, which is widely believed to have been crafted by English embroiderers in Kent, has been held in France since it was first created in the years after the 1066 Battle of Hastings.
Once displayed in Paris at the request of Napoleon, the ancient tapestry has spent the last 42 years in the Bayeux Museum in northern France. The museum is closing in September this year to undergo refurbishment for two years, after which the tapestry is due to return to Bayeux.
“The Bayeux Tapestry is one of the most iconic pieces of art ever produced in the UK and I am delighted that we will be able to welcome it here in 2026,” Ms Nandy said.
“This loan is a symbol of our shared history with our friends in France, a relationship built over centuries and one that continues to endure. The British Museum is one of the world's most visited museums and is a fitting place to host this most treasured piece of our nation’s history.”
Director of the British Museum Nicholas Cullinan described the tapestry as “one of the most important and unique cultural artefacts in the world, which illustrates the deep ties between Britain and France”.
The reported deal concludes a loan plan first announced in 2018 by then-prime minister Theresa May. The agreement was repeatedly delayed due to concerns over the condition of the tapestry, which requires specific conditions to preserve it.
Sir Keir Starmer said in May that his government had spent months negotiating the donation with Paris.
At the time, the prime minister described the tapestry as a “unique treasure” and “a symbol of the deep ties between Britain and France”.
The tapestry is one of the most precious pieces of 11th-century heritage and is listed as one of nearly 600 items in Unesco’s Memory of the World register. It has been regarded as a historic monument since 1840.
There have been three British requests for the tapestry to be loaned to the UK, none of which have been successful.
The first time was in 1931, when London’s Burlington House requested the tapestry for an exhibition on French art. Then in 1953, for Queen Elizabeth II’s coronation, and later in 1966 on the 900th anniversary of the Battle of Hastings. The Victoria and Albert Museum and Westminster Abbey both hoped to display the tapestry.
Peter Ricketts, a former ambassador to France, has been appointed by the British government to act as its envoy for the Bayeux Tapestry loan.
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