Bayeux Tapestry brings medieval battle scenes to life in UK exhibition

Visitors to the sell-out Bayeux Tapestry Exhibition should be ready for the "brutal reality" of battle scenes and expect to be astonished by the scale of the 1,000-year-old embroidery, as excitement mounts ahead of the London show's opening on Thursday.

King Charles and French President Emmanuel Macron were among the first viewers at the British Museum last week, where the monarch celebrated the artwork that depicts the conquest of England by his ancestor William I in 1066.

Thought to have been stitched in Kent, southern England, the tapestry was subsequently taken across the Channel and is being shown outside France for the first time, generating a wave of interest in its significance to English history.

Millie Horton-Insch, a curator of the Bayeux Tapestry exhibition, told Reuters on Monday that its 70-metre (230-foot) length would stun visitors.

"No matter how many times I see it, I'm still blown away by its size," she said.

The tapestry recounts the events leading up to the famous Battle of Hastings and the subsequent Norman defeat of Anglo-Saxon King Harold II.

"We see an incredible battle that really doesn't shy away from the brutal reality of medieval warfare and how devastating it was for both sides," the curator added.

Initial tickets for the nine-month show sold out within hours, generating sales of £2.5 million and making it the museum's best-selling exhibition. Another batch of tickets will go on sale in October.

William's conquest was the last time England was successfully invaded, and 1066 remains the most famous year in the nation's history.

The loan from France is seen as a sign of closer ties between the countries after the discord caused by the 2016 Brexit vote, and Macron talked of the unifying role of art to show "what humanity is capable of creating".

Horton-Insch said that it was difficult for a modern audience to comprehend the thousands of hours it would have taken the English seamstresses to weave it, including spinning the wool thread and mastering the natural dyes.

The Bayeux Tapestry arrived in Britain in July having travelled in an air-conditioned, ​anti-vibration crate under police escort from France.

"It seems to have borne the journey incredibly well," Horton-Insch said.

-Reporting by Marie-Louise Gumuchian, writing by Sarah Young, Editing by Alex Richardson/Reuters