Madeleine Lake
Live reporter

Image source, Reuters

Tickets are sold out for the rest of the year, the doors are finally open, and all eyes are on a 70m (230ft) story woven through linen. Here's a recap of today:

The British Museum launched its Bayeux Tapestry exhibition today - it's the first time the embroidery has been on display in the UK since its creation almost 1,000 years ago.

The British have been asking to loan the artwork from France for around a century and finally it's here until July 2027. It arrived in the dead-of-night in July - escorted by police after dummy test runs to ensure safe passage.

People queued outside the museum this morning ahead of the opening - meet the re-enactors who were there from the start. At 10:00 BST, the red ribbon fell and the first people were allowed in.

Inside, the tapestry comes to life under the moody lighting and dramatic mezzanine. While our culture editor Katie Razzall says "nothing prepared me for how I felt" looking at it for the first time.

"It feels like you're in the battlefield," one couple says, as another hails the experience as a "real privilege".

Don't panic if you haven't got tickets, more are due on sale next month, and there's also a replica you can see for free in Reading.

We've been unravelling the story of the tapestry throughout the day, with more to come, so stick with us.

While visitors at the British Museum journey through the Bayeux Tapestry in person, we're retelling some of its key moments here. We're now into the final scenes of the 58 in the tapestry's - see our previous post here.

"Here the French do battle", reads the tapestry in Latin: the Battle of Hastings is in full flow.

The Norman archers are firing at the English infantry, and now their cavalry is swooping in. So many English soldiers are killed that they are spilling into the lower frieze of the tapestry.

The battle plays out over the tapestry's final scenes, and grizzly detail is stitched in - from severed limbs, to cartwheeling horses.

For now, King Harold is fighting fit, although his two brothers are killed in the early melee. In the chaos of the battle, a rumour spreads that William may have met the same fate.

Getting hold of coveted Bayeux Tapestry tickets has been no easy feat, with tens of thousands queuing online when they were first released. But for others, it's cost that's a barrier.

Adult tickets to see the tapestry at the British Museum are priced at £33 during peak times and £27 at off-peak times, with an additional £3.50 donation.

Angie in Leeds says the "historic event" is "out of reach for many, many families in the north" when you factor in the cost of train tickets and food costs on top of the museum tickets themselves. "London-only cultural events alienate many families north of Watford," she adds.

Image source, Reuters

Claire in Sheffield thinks the tapestry should "also be on show outside London" including in the north of England, Wales and Scotland.

Meanwhile, Carl in St Neots thinks it's a "pity" it's more expensive to view the tapestry in London than Bayeux, where it typically costs €12 (£10.30).

The British Museum's director Nicholas Cullinan previously told the BBC it is a "really expensive exhibition for us to put on as a charity, and so we do need to recoup those funds". He also pointed out all children under 16 can see it for free.

Jacob Phillips
Reporting from the British Museum

Image source, PA Media

Earlier I spoke to Richard Sammuel as he queued outside the British Museum.

We’ve reunited in the gift shop outside the exhibition after he saw the tapestry for the first time in around 25 years.

He tells me all the details are just as rich. "It was very much as I remember it. It was just in a different position," he says.

Sammuel praises the interactive elements of the exhibition and the graphics surrounding the tapestry but he says he barely noticed them as he was so gripped by the embroidery.

He explains, thanks to his sparse Latin, he was able to help tell the story to the people around him.

But despite the historic occasion he’s not sure it beat his first visit to see the tapestry.

"To be honest I think it was better high up. I think that was how it was meant to be."

The Bayeux Tapestry has been laid flat for the exhibition but in France it is held up and curves around.

Why the scene of one fleeing Anglo Saxon woman stayed with mepublished at 13:34 BST

13:34 BST

Katie Razzall
Culture editor

The most powerful scene in the tapestry for me is scene 47, titled Hic Domus Incenditur or Here a House is Set on Fire.

You see two Norman soldiers torching a building, with the flames already crackling off its roof. And in front of the house there is a woman holding the hand of a child and leading him away.

I couldn’t stop looking at that scene and imagining how the woman who embroidered it might herself have experienced the Norman Conquest and the horror of war just a few years before she worked on the tapestry.

If her own house hadn’t been destroyed by soldiers, she may have had friends whose homes were burnt, or she may have lost menfolk in the Battle of Hastings or later rebellions.

The destruction, the fear, the pain, the violence and the fact that as a woman she had little agency as men battled over English land is all embroidered into that scene.

There are only six women in the entire artwork.

For me this fleeing Anglo Saxon woman is a reminder of all the women who will have lived through the horrors of the time, but whose stories are almost entirely missing from the tapestry.

Image source, Bayeux Museum

While visitors at the British Museum journey through the Bayeux Tapestry in person, we're retelling some of its key moments here. We've just passed the halfway mark - see our previous post.

William of Normandy is furious that Harold Godwinson has taken the throne. He gathers a massive army of Normans and they cross the Channel to England.

The French forces land at Pevensey Bay near Eastbourne on 28 September 1066 and make their way to Hastings. They set up camp for a while - enjoying what appears to be a Middle Ages take on a barbecue - and set homes on fire.

From here they will march inland to meet the Anglo-Saxon army.

Image source, The Bayeux Museum

Image source, Bayeux Museum

Jacob Phillips
Live reporter

Image source, Bayeux Museum

Medieval archaeologist David Musgrove, who co-wrote the book The Story of the Bayeux Tapestry, has seen the embroidery at least six times and spent weeks at a time studying the art piece using online resources and books.

The author, who is also the content director of the HistoryExtra magazine and podcast, tells me seeing the tapestry with your own eyes allows you to decide where each scenes starts and ends rather than someone who may have a different lens or view to you.

Here are his tips for looking at the tapestry:

• "Get your face close to it": The tapestry is being displayed flat for the first time, meaning visitors can get right up to the art piece
• Follow the eyes and hands of the figures: Figures often help signpost to viewers which characters and captions are important
• Pay attention to the animals in the tapestry's borders: Birds start to squawk more and animals appear more animated as the action ramps up

Image source, Reuters

As we heard from our culture editor earlier, the first sight of the tapestry is from above, through a large opening on the mezzanine of the British Museum.

The wall above the tapestry features a quote from Henry of Huntingdon taken from his most notable work, Historia Anglorum, first published in the 12th Century.

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

Jacob Phillips
Reporting from the British Museum

History buffs Cecilia and Fabio Zanini have been completely wowed by the scale of the Bayeux Tapestry.

"I was amazed by the vibrancy of the colours. The detail of the characters," Cecilia tells me. "It gave both of us goosebumps."

Fabio says he was constantly looking left and right to see all the action and he was surprised by the scale of the tapestry, particularly the number of Norman boats and cavalry.

"It feels like you're in the battlefield," he adds, praising the "real sense of movement" in the embroidery.

"It really allowed you to go back to 1066", he says.

The couple, who moved from Brazil to London 10 years ago, first learnt about the Norman Conquest when their daughter went to school and agreed it felt like a full circle moment now being able to see the tapestry.

Rozina Sini
BBC Your Voice

Image source, Supplied

Jenna Pead, a teacher in Amersham, is visiting the exhibition today with her "history mad" daughter.

She says 10-year-old Remeney is "incredibly excited" and "can't wait to see the iconic part of King Harold with the arrow in his eye" - although some historians dispute whether the famous scene is actually him.

"It was a bit of a mission to get tickets," Jenna says, adding that she was in the virtual queue "all day while taking a group of teenagers on a school trip to Greenwich".

She says she was behind around 70,000 people and thought she'd "never get any".

Image source, Bayeux Museum

While visitors at the British Museum journey through the Bayeux Tapestry in person, we're retelling some its key moments here. In our previous post, King Edward the Confessor died - and it was uncertain who would take the English throne next.

Harold Godwinson is crowned King of England.

This is much to the ire of rival claimant William, Duke of Normandy, who - as we saw in an earlier scene from the tapestry - may have been under the impression the throne had been promised to him.

But hang on... A comet is seen flying above the new King Harold.

Nasa has since confirmed the comet was Halley's Comet, which passed within nine million miles of Earth in April 1066. The comet is visible from Earth roughly every 76 years.

It can be identified in the tapestry by its distinctive tail and it is believed to be the first visual illustration of the comet, which was later named after British astronomer Edmond Halley.

As depicted in the tapestry, observers in England saw it as a bad omen and can be seen gawking up at it.

Image source, Bayeux Museum

Mary McCool
BBC Scotland News

Image source, Ian Williams

Ian Williams began cross stitching a replica of the Bayeux Tapestry in the 1980s on his daily train commute as a way to pass the time.

He was after a “bigger project”, after deciding he had made enough cushion covers for his home.

But it was not just about the needle work for Ian – it was about learning history.

"It is such a relaxing hobby, it is the same movement over and over but you have to think about what colours you are using," he says.

"You are literally studying the Bayeux Tapestry stitch by stitch," he says, adding that you can even see "mistakes in the original" such as lines that don't quite follow or parts of horses have been "squeezed in".

Now aged 70, Ian will see his masterpiece go on display in Macduff, Aberdeenshire – coinciding with the real thing being loaned to the British Museum.

• You can read more about the replica in our full news story

Image source, Ian Williams

Image source, LightRocket via Getty Images

Tickets for the Bayeux Tapestry exhibition at the British Museum are currently sold out until the end of 2026. If you want to see it, but haven't been able to secure tickets - here are your options:

• More tickets are coming: A second wave will be available from the British Museum website from 21 October, it will cover visits between January and March 2027
• A free option: If you're aiming to keep the costs down there's a to-scale replica you can go and see in Reading Museum at the Bayeux Gallery
• And from the comfort of your home: The Bayeux Museum has a full panoramic scan of the artwork on its website where you can follow it scene-by-scene., external

Jacob Phillips
Reporting from the British Museum

Adrian Harris was one of the first members of the public to see the Bayeux Tapestry since its long awaited return to British soil.

"I'm not a very emotive or expressive person but I was absolutely blown away by it," he tells me moments after seeing the tapestry.

The 42-year-old describes how he was taken aback when he had an uninterrupted view of the tapestry at the top of stairs at the start of the exhibition.

He tells me it was a "real privilege" to be one of the first members of the public to see it in England.

Harris, who works at Westminster Abbey, was particularly moved seeing the cathedral in the tapestry and the hand of God pointing down at it.

He has seen Edward the Confessor's shrine at the abbey and was moved to see his story told in the tapestry.

Harris was also particularly impressed by the detail and strange characters in the frieze of the tapestry.

Rozina Sini
BBC Your Voice

Robert and his partner Katrina have travelled from one of Orkney’s outer north isles to see the Bayeux Tapestry, honouring a commitment made at the start of their relationship almost a year ago.

"It was one of the first things we talked about so when this opportunity arose we just had to do it," Robert says.

He's still not quite sure how they managed to get tickets for day one of the exhibition.

"When we logged onto the website to get the tickets it said there were 30,000 people in front of me in the queue," he says.

"Then I got a slot and didn't realise it was the first day. I thought magic, how ace is that?"

Image source, Bayeux Museum

While visitors at the British Museum are journeying through the Bayeux Tapestry in person, we're retelling some of its key moments right here. In our previous post, we set the scene.

England's elderly king, Edward the Confessor, has died aged somewhere between 60 and 63 years old. England is now in mourning, and the future is unclear. This is what we know so far:

What we know

• Edward's death occurs at some point overnight between 4 and 5 January 1066, he is buried a day later at Westminster Abbey
• He is survived by his wife Edith Godwinson - the sister of Harold - and remembered by medieval monks as a "gentle and peaceable man"
• But Edward leaves no direct heirs to the throne

What we don’t know

• Who England's next king will be. Edward and Harold's hands are depicted touching on his deathbed in the Bayeux Tapestry, leading some to argue that Edward gave him the throne - but historians still debate this today

• What the various claimants to England's throne - Harold Godwinson, William of Normandy, and others - will do next

Katie Razzall
Culture editor

Image source, PA Media

I’ve been preparing for this exhibition for months.

I’ve read books and studied photographs of the tapestry. I was even lucky enough to witness the carefully choreographed unfurling from its case a few days after its arrival from France.

But nothing prepared me for how I felt when I looked down on it for the first time, stretching the full length of the gallery.

The first sight of it on display at the British Museum is from above, through a large opening on the mezzanine.

The lights are dim to protect it but the colours are still so vibrant. To see the nearly 70m (230ft) long medieval masterpiece laid flat, with all of it visible at the same time, probably for the first time in history, is overwhelming.

The 58 scenes embroidered on linen are an incredible undertaking, and I felt a powerful link with the embroiderers (most likely expert women in Canterbury or somewhere close by) who lived and worked on it nearly a millennium ago.

Jacob Phillips
Reporting from the British Museum

The queue has quickly disappeared outside the British Museum as the first set of visitors to the Bayeux Tapestry are moved towards security.

"Are you ready? Are you excited?" Shouted a member of staff from the museum.

Likely one of the first members of the public to see the tapestry displayed on British soil is Jenny. She arrived at 08:00 BST having travelled two hours on public transport to make sure she beat any queues and got a historic spot.

Jenny first saw the tapestry over 40 years ago in Bayeux but is excited to see it laid flat "without a curve in it". She is coming back in a couple of months to see the tapestry again.

Richard Sammuel, 59, is also among the first group seeing the tapestry. The Hastings resident is thrilled to "get to see it in such an exciting way".

He explains he also went to see the tapestry in Bayeux with his late father in the early 2000s. "There was no big fanfare," he says. Nothing like the camera and actors in medieval outfits here today.

Sammuel explains he's excited to see the tapestry in more detail and to see Hastings Castle - featured in it - in much better condition than it is today.

Katie Williams
Live reporter

Image source, Reuters

What does the tapestry show?

Think of it as a medieval comic strip showing events leading up to the Battle of Hastings in 1066 and the Norman Conquest of England.

Famous scenes include the funeral of Edward the Confessor, whose death sparked a succession crisis, the building of ships as William of Normandy decides to attack England to claim the throne, and the death of King Harold Godwinson in battle.

Is it a tapestry?

No, technically it's an embroidery made of dyed wool stitched onto linen.

When was it made?

We don't know for sure, but many scholars believe it was made in or around Canterbury - probably by women. The British Museum notes that English women's needlework skills "were admired across Europe during this period".

It's widely believed to have been made in the years after the Battle of Hastings - with some suggesting it was commissioned by William's half-brother Bishop Odo.

Where is Bayeux?

Bayeux is a town in Normandy in north-western France. The embroidery is usually housed in a museum there, but it closed for refurbishment last September, providing the opportunity for the tapestry to travel to London on loan until July 2027.

How big is it?

Almost 70m (230ft) long and 50cm (20in) high, but with backing fabric increasing this to 70cm in some places.

As doors open to the Bayeux Tapestry exhibition, visitors in costumes that resemble 11th Century fashion are flooding the British Museum's gates.

So far we've seen shields, helmets and (replica) weapons.

Image source, PA Media

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images