THE British Museum will loan the Lewis Chessmen to France in exchange for the Bayeux Tapestry, set to return to England for the first time in more than 900 years.
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer and French president Emmanuel Macron are expected to announce that the tapestry will arrive in the UK at the British Museum next year on loan from France.
In return, the British Museum will loan the Sutton Hoo collection, the Lewis Chessmen and other items to France.
The tapestry depicts the 1066 Norman invasion and Battle Of Hastings, which saw William The Conqueror take the English throne from Harold Godwinson and become the first Norman king of England.
The 70-metre-long work, which is more than 900-years-old, has been on display in various locations across France during its history, including most recently at the Bayeux Museum in Normandy.
It is widely accepted to have been made in England during the 11th century and was likely to have been commissioned by Bishop Odo Of Bayeux.
The Chessmen – a famous hoard of 93 objects – were discovered in 1831 on the Isle of Lewis. Eleven are in the National Museums Scotland (NMS) collection while the remaining 82 are in the British Museum’s collection, six of which are on loan to Museum nan Eilean in Lewis.
Director of the British Museum, Nicholas Cullinan, 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.
“This will be the first time the Bayeux Tapestry has been in the UK since it was made, almost 1000-years-ago.
“We are also delighted to send the Lewis Chessmen, and some of our treasures from Sutton Hoo – the greatest archaeological discovery in Britain – to France in return.
“This is exactly the kind of international partnership that I want us to champion and take part in, sharing the best of our collection as widely as possible, and in return displaying global treasures never seen here before.”
The Sutton Hoo treasures, discovered as part of a seventh century Anglo-Saxon ship burial in Suffolk in 1939, provide insight into England during the period before the Norman Conquest.
Museums in Normandy will host the Sutton Hoo treasures while they are in France.
Further details of the exhibition will be announced by the British Museum in due course, with the loan set to form part of a season of culture in 2027 celebrating the 1000th anniversary of the birth of William The Conqueror, and the Grand Depart of the 2027 Tour de France from the UK.
The tapestry will be displayed in the Sainsbury Exhibitions Gallery of the British Museum between September 2026 and July 2027.
