Hélène Delprat's 25 square metre panel imagines the coronation that closes the story of 1066 and hangs in the Chapter House from 1 May 2027.
Westminster Abbey will show a newly woven picture of William the Conqueror’s coronation in its medieval Chapter House from 1 May to 30 July 2027. The piece imagines the ending that the famous Bayeux embroidery seems to be missing.
Nobody knows whether the last section of the 11th-century original was lost or simply never made. Many historians believe it would have closed with William being crowned in the abbey on Christmas Day 1066, following his victory over King Harold at the Battle of Hastings.
The design is by the French artist Hélène Delprat. Weavers in Aubusson, a town in France known for the craft, are making it by hand. The finished panel covers 25 square metres and uses up to 300 shades of wool and silk thread. It borrows colours and motifs from the Bayeux original and mixes them with coats of arms and emblems of power and victory.
The commission came from Normandy Regional Council for Millennium 2027, the European year of the Normans, which marks a thousand years since William was born in 1027. Herve Morin, who leads the council, described the new work as the “contemporary counterpart” to the original.
The Very Reverend Dr David Hoyle, Dean of Westminster, said the abbey had crowned monarchs since 1066. “There could be no more fitting place to display this work,” he said.
The panel is included in the standard abbey admission price. Tickets for visits during the exhibition are due to be released about three months before it opens.
Because the work will hang in the Chapter House, English Heritage members can see it free of charge. Their membership does not give them entry to the rest of the abbey, though. The abbey also sells an annual membership for £45, which allows unlimited repeat visits.
After London, the panel will travel back to France for a tour of Normandy. Its final stop is Falaise Castle, where William was born.
The Bayeux original arrived at the British Museum from France in July, and interest has been huge. On the first day tickets went on sale, the museum sold more than £2.4 million worth, a record for a single day. No tickets are left for now, and the next batch goes on sale on 21 October.
From 1 May to 30 July 2027, in the abbey's medieval Chapter House.
It is included in standard abbey admission. English Heritage members can see it free in the Chapter House, but that does not cover the rest of the abbey.
Tickets for visits during the exhibition are due to be released about three months before it opens on 1 May 2027.
It returns to France for a tour of Normandy and then goes on show at Falaise Castle, William the Conqueror's birthplace.
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