Three Victorian hand-painted plaster casts of details from the Bayeux Tapestry will go on display at English Heritage’s Rievaulx Abbey in March 2027. The display is part of the British Museum’s initiative, Bayeux around Britain, supported by WorldQuant, designed to bring the story of the Bayeux Tapestry – on display at the Museum from September – to as wide an audience as possible.

The casts were created in the early 19th century and are rarely on display. Rievaulx Abbey is the only northern venue to host them, and they will be at the abbey’s museum between March and May 2027.

Iona Keen, Head of Learning and Interpretation at English Heritage said: “English Heritage is delighted to be taking part in this initiative. Rievaulx Abbey is a spectacular venue and we’re looking forward to welcoming visitors to the museum in the spring. As a charity we are proud to care for a large number of properties right across the country that are associated with this period of history. From the 1066 battlefield itself to Rievaulx Abbey, we hope that people will be inspired by the Bayeux Tapestry arriving on these shores to explore their local heritage.”

Dr Nicholas Cullinan OBE, Director of the British Museum, said: ‘We have been working with colleagues around the UK to deliver a programme of loans and activity that will extend far beyond London to make this a truly national moment. This is perhaps the most ambitious and inclusive programme we or in fact any museum in the UK has done, bringing together over 60 partners across the UK and Channel Islands. I’m delighted that this 19th-century cast can travel far and wide and be accessible to thousands of people around the UK.’

For centuries, people have studied, copied and shared their own images and interpretations of the Tapestry – an extraordinary work of art that tells the dramatic story of the events leading up to, and including, the Norman invasion of England in 1066. In 1816, artist Charles Alfred Stothard was hired by London’s Society of Antiquaries to produce the first complete, colour drawings of the Tapestry, an extraordinary task. Stothard also took moulds of the embroidery by applying wax directly to its surface, a method of reproduction that, in risking the preservation of the Tapestry, would not be considered today. From these moulds he made a series of plaster casts, three of which were acquired as a group by the British Museum in 1878.

Stothard’s three casts feature Harold Godwinson, king of England from January to October 1066, and Duke William of Normandy, who defeated Harold at the battle of Hastings and seized the English crown. The cast is taken from scene 46 of the Tapestry, in which William hears news of Harold’s whereabouts, scene 30, which shows Harold at his coronation, and scene 48, where William wears full armour and holds a spear.

The Spotlight Loan is part of Bayeux Around Britain, supported by WorldQuant, a national programme designed by the Museum to communicate the story and significance of the Bayeux Tapestry to as many people as possible.

For more information, visit the British Museum website 

Check out the English Heritage website for for more information about Rievaulx Abbey