A landmark cultural loan agreement will bring the Bayeux Tapestry to London for the first time in over 900 years.

The iconic 70‑metre tapestry, depicting the Norman Conquest of England in 1066, will be exhibited from September 2026 to July 2027 in the Sainsbury Exhibitions Gallery at the British Museum. 

The supposed site of the death of Harold Godwinson at Battle Abbey close to the site of the Battle of Hastings. 

The arrangement was announced during French President Macron’s state visit to the UK earlier this month and signed at the British Museum by UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, Emmanuel Macron, and museum director Nicholas Cullinan. 

This is the culmination of years of diplomatic effort. A visit was initially proposed in 2018, but the tapestry was then too fragile to move. Subsequent conservation work means the swap can now go ahead. 

Going south across the English Channel/La Manche, are some of the British Museum's most recognisable assets, including treasures from all four nations of the UK among them Sutton Hoo Anglo‑Saxon ship burial artefacts and the Lewis Chessmen.

The White Tower in the Tower of London was begun by William I, whose conquest left many physical remnants we still see today. 

The swap will help mark the 1,000th anniversary of the birth of William Duke of Normandy, or William the Conqueror (or William the Bastard to those less fond of him). The Tour de France's Grand Depart will also be held in the UK. 

There are politics at play too. Sir Keir Starmer used the visit of his French counterpart to announce closer cooperation in defence and other areas.  

The timing is useful for Bayeux too, with the Tapestry's home due to undergo a multimillion-euro refurbishment in 2025. 

The visit is likely to give the British Museum a blockbuster exhibition to challenge hit shows like the loans of Tutankhamen's burial goods and the Terracotta Warriors.