Britain’s Almost Exact Replica Of The Bayeux Tapestry…

Later this year, in 2026, the Bayeux Tapestry will be on loan from France to the UK and displayed at The British Museum. Did you know though that the UK has its very own, almost exact, replica created by an industrious group of Victorian women? 

It can be found in Reading Museum, only half an hour on the train from London Paddington.

The Real Bayeux Tapestry: origins 

Firstly, a quick background to the real Bayeux Tapestry. Its origins, interestingly, are mysterious. The first recorded evidence of the Bayeux Tapestry is only in 1476 in an inventory of Bayeux Cathedral. Historians, however, have strong theories about where it came from.

It is thought to have been created in England, likely somewhere in or near Canterbury, after William the Conqueror defeated Harold Godwinson at the Battle of Hastings in 1066.

Many historians believe it was commissioned by Bishop Odo, William the Conqueror’s half brother, because of the oversized role he seems to play in the story depicted on the Bayeux Tapestry. Bishop Odo was also the Bishop of Bayeux Cathedral, where the tapestry was first recorded in the 15th century and it had been consecrated in the year 1077, so the timing matches up with the likely creation date of the tapestry.

What Does It Depict?

It is 70 metres long and is actually an embroidered cloth (not a tapestry), hand-stitched using woollen yarns onto a linen backdrop. The Battle of Hastings itself is only about 20-25 metres worth, the rest covers the build up to the Battle, including Harold journeying to Normandy in 1064 and the death, in January 1066, of Edward the Confessor. 

The Bayeux Tapestry thankfully managed to survive World War Two. French authorities stored it in a zinc-lined crate in the basement of the Hôtel du Doyen to protect it from German forces. In 1941 it was moved to the National Museums repository in Sourches for safer keeping and studied by German experts. Two small fragments were even removed and only very recently discovered. They were returned to France in January 2026.

Since 1983, the tapestry has been displayed in the Bayeux Museum.

The Victorian Replica

The copy that you can now see in the Reading Museum was the idea of a lady called Elizabeth Wardle. She was an accomplished embroideress and the wife of silk-dyer Sir Thomas Wardle. 

In 1879 they had founded the Leek Embroidery Society, originally called the Leek Sewing Circle. In 1885 Elizabeth and Thomas organised the Society to create a full scale replica of the Bayeux Tapestry.

Elizabeth had been to see the real one and felt that England should have its own. The Wardles were friends with William Morris, the key figure of the Arts and Crafts movement, so it can very much be seen as fitting in with that style and a Victorian enthusiasm for any medieval. 

It took the thirty-five ladies of the Leek Embroidery Society just over a year to create the replica Bayeux Tapestry. It then travelled around the country and was put on display in various locations. It has been to the USA, Germany, South Africa and was even viewed by Queen Victoria herself at Windsor Castle. 

The replica is often creditted with sparking renewed interest in the actual Bayeux Tapestry in the 19th century.

How Does It Differ?

The Reading version is slightly taller because it includes a panel at the bottom where the names of the woman who embroidered that particular section is recorded. As we have no idea who created the original, their names lost to history, it is lovely that we get the individual names of these Victorian women below their section. 

Some of the colours are more vivid and uniform on the replica. They used wool dyed by Thomas Wardle’s natural dyes. Unsurprisingly, also, many of the signs of the wear and tear on the over 900 year old original, such as rips, are not on the replica. 

The original also had a few naked men displayed in it, with rather prominent genitalia. In true prudish Victorian style these figures were given undergarments/trousers in the replica. Contrary to popular legend, it was not the women that made this decision. They were working on photographs of the original, amended to be more ‘suitable’ by the male photographers working at the South Kensington Museum (now the V and A).

How did it get to Reading?

The replica was purchased for Reading by Arthur Hill, who was a former Mayor of Reading and philanthropist. He was the half-brother of Octavia Hill, a great social reformer and co-founder of the National Trust. The tapestry was one of the first exhibits in the Museum’s new Art Gallery when it opened in 1897.

It travelled around the country and world until its current, permanent gallery was created at Reading Museum in 1993. A quick sidenote, Reading is, despite its size, a town and not a city. It has applied for city status four times but been rejected because it does not have a Royal Charter. It is, in fact, the UK’s largest town. 

Reading’s replica is absolutely worth a visit because it is a fascinating historical piece in and of itself. It can be viewed in a quiet, well-lit space, with plenty of extra information around it to enhance the experience. 

Entry to the museum is free, but they also run a very interesting hour long tour of the tapestry to explain and point out the details. They are on Tuesdays and Thursday at 2.30pm and Saturdays at 2pm. They cost £8 and you can find out more here.

Another Replica Being Created

There is also, by the way, someone else currently creating another full-sized replica! In Wisbech in Cambridgeshire, a lady called Mia Hansson has spent the last nine and a half years creating her own replica. She has apparently set herself a deadline of October 2027.

It is a stitch by stitch copy and she started this ambitious project because: ‘I just wanted something to do and needed a project I couldn’t finish in a hurry’. You can follow her progess here on Facebook.

Exploring Reading

I visited the museum as part of a press morning and we were also taken on a walking tour to see a couple of the other sights in Reading.

You can wander around the ruins of Reading Abbey.

Reading Abbey was constructed after Henry I ordered its building in 1121 and was officially opened by Thomas Becket, the Archbishop of Canterbury in 1164. Henry I was buried beneath the high altar after he died in 1136. His grave has been lost to history sadly. 

In the background of the image above, you can see Reading Gaol. This was where Oscar Wilde was imprisoned with ‘hard labour’ from 1895-1897 for homosexual acts or ‘gross indecency’ as it was in law at the time. 

The building shown below has a plaque on it that tells you that this area was struck by a bomb on 10th February 1943. It was the deadliest incident in Reading in World War Two killing 29 people. A building called the People’s Pantry, a restaurant offering cheap off-ration meals largely collapsed.

The attic space remarkably stayed relatively intact and, thank goodness it did, because a 17 year old boy called Michael Bond had been in there working as an assistant at the BBC. Michael Bond would go onto, in 1958 write his first Paddington Bear book, A Bear Called Paddington.

Finally, above is the Hospitium of St John the Baptist, next to St Laurence’s churchyard, founded in the 12th century. This was once a medieval dormitory for pilgrims visiting Reading Abbey. Today is home to a nursery.

I thought I would put together a Google map of the spots below, should you want to find them on a visit.

Thank you for reading, more historical spots in London and beyond below!