Bayeux will come home in 2022

A DATE has been set for the Bayeux Tapestry to return to British shores – after 950 years in France.

It will return in 2022 after Culture Secretary Matt Hancock secured an agreement in Paris yesterday with his French counterpart, Francoise Nyssen.

The artefact will be loaned to the UK while the Bayeux Museum in Normandy, where it is now displayed, is refurbished.

It will be the first time it has been on display in the UK since its creation to record the victory of the Norman king William the Conqueror over King Harold at Hastings in 1066.

Mr Hancock said: ‘The Bayeux Tapestry is a world treasure and a symbol of the deep ties between Britain and France.

‘This agreement takes us a step closer to bringing the tapestry to our shores for the first time in almost a millennium.

‘It also underlines the commitment from both nations for greater cultural, digital and scientific collaboration now and into the future.

‘We are incredibly excited about the potential of the loan to enhance further the bonds that tie us to our neighbours across the water’.

The 230ft-long tapestry has been displayed around France, and is part of the Unesco Memory of the World Register.