Sep 6, 2026 · 27 min · 9 segments
This week, after a meticulously planned voyage for the 11th-century retelling of the Battle of Hastings, the British Museum’s long-awaited Bayeux Tapestry exhibition opens to the public. But, why has…
Katie GatensGuest
Manveen RanaHost
Michael LewisGuest
So it's a few minutes before midnight on the 9th of July, and I'm in Central London.
In a few hours' time, the Bayeux Tapestry will be arriving at the British Museum, and I'm about to be locked into the museum for three hours until it arrives.
On a hot, sticky July night, Katie Gatens, The Sunday Times Europe correspondent, found herself spending a night at the museum.
One of the British Museum team has just told me it's like waiting for an Amazon parcel to arrive.
The Bayeux Tapestry, the long, winding embroidery that records the history of the Battle of Hastings, was arriving on British soil for the first time in almost 1,000 years.
So I'm standing outside the back of the museum next to what looks like a massive garage.
It's the height of two stories, and what's gonna happen is the truck carrying the tapestry is gonna back into this big garage, so it actually drives into the museum, and then the crate holding the tapestry is gonna be unloaded.
We're into the early hours of the morning at this point, and it's still pitch black outside.
So the lorry has just reversed up the driveway at the back entrance of the British Museum, and everybody's visibly breathing a sigh of relief.
The British Museum will be opening their new blockbuster exhibition to the public on the 10th of September after a Glastonbury-like frenzy for tickets crashed the website when they were released and sold out within hours.
'Cause this isn't an exhibition.
It's like a national event.
It's a very special thing, so just-
May this tapestry and the treasures that will travel in return stand as symbols not only of our shared past but our shared future.
Long live culture.
So why has it taken almost 1,000 years for the Bayeux Tapestry to return to Britain? And what has that long and arduous journey actually involved? And after all these centuries, why does this extraordinary piece of embroidery still capture the public imagination? The story today, the Bayeux Tapestry's long road back to Britain.
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So it's a few minutes before midnight on the 9th of July, and I'm in Central London.
In a few hours' time, the Bayeux Tapestry will be arriving at the British Museum, and I'm about to be locked into the museum for three hours until it arrives.
On a hot, sticky July night, Katie Gatens, The Sunday Times Europe correspondent, found herself spending a night at the museum.
One of the British Museum team has just told me it's like waiting for an Amazon parcel to arrive.
The Bayeux Tapestry, the long, winding embroidery that records the history of the Battle of Hastings, was arriving on British soil for the first time in almost 1,000 years.
So I'm standing outside the back of the museum next to what looks like a massive garage.
It's the height of two stories, and what's gonna happen is the truck carrying the tapestry is gonna back into this big garage, so it actually drives into the museum, and then the crate holding the tapestry is gonna be unloaded.
We're into the early hours of the morning at this point, and it's still pitch black outside.
So the lorry has just reversed up the driveway at the back entrance of the British Museum, and everybody's visibly breathing a sigh of relief.
The British Museum will be opening their new blockbuster exhibition to the public on the 10th of September after a Glastonbury-like frenzy for tickets crashed the website when they were released and sold out within hours.
'Cause this isn't an exhibition.
It's like a national event.
It's a very special thing, so just-
May this tapestry and the treasures that will travel in return stand as symbols not only of our shared past but our shared future.
Long live culture.
So why has it taken almost 1,000 years for the Bayeux Tapestry to return to Britain? And what has that long and arduous journey actually involved? And after all these centuries, why does this extraordinary piece of embroidery still capture the public imagination? The story today, the Bayeux Tapestry's long road back to Britain.