London's Bayeux Tapestry tickets are sold out to New Year. Beverley's Treasure House has a free display on how it was dyed and woven, open until July.

A free display on how the Bayeux Tapestry was made has opened at the Champney Treasure House in Beverley. It runs until July 2027, the same month the tapestry itself leaves the British Museum. That matters, because every London ticket up to the end of December has already gone.

The display is called Bayeux Around Britain: Dyed in History. East Riding of Yorkshire Council’s museum team made it with the Battle of Stamford Bridge Heritage Society. The council announced it on 1 October.

What is in the case

The display looks at the crafts behind the tapestry rather than the tapestry itself. According to the council, it covers:

  • the skills used to make the original, which are still practised today
  • how wool was dyed to make textiles like the tapestry nearly 1,000 years ago, from the heritage society’s own research
  • the plants and minerals that dyers would have known when the tapestry was made, between about 1070 and 1077

The council’s photograph of the case shows a small loom, hand-spun wool and dyed yarn.

The heritage society has grown its own natural dye and medicinal garden at its living history site in Stamford Bridge, about 22 miles west of Beverley. (Battle of Stamford Bridge Heritage Society)

The tapestry tells the story of the Norman Conquest and the Battle of Hastings on 14 October 1066. Nineteen days earlier, on 25 September 1066, King Harold II’s army fought a Viking army at Stamford Bridge, now in the East Riding. The society describes it as the battle that “marked the end of the Viking Age in England”. (Battle of Stamford Bridge Heritage Society, the battle)

The London exhibition is sold out to Christmas

The 70-metre tapestry is on loan from France and is on show in London for the first time since it was made. The British Museum lists these details:
Dates 10 September 2026 to 11 July 2027
Where Room 30, the Sainsbury Exhibitions Gallery
Adult ticket £33
Under 16s Free, booked with an adult
Students, 16 to 18 year olds, jobseekers £25
Tickets to 31 December 2026 Sold out
January to March 2027 tickets On sale 21 October 2026
April to July 2027 tickets On sale in early 2027

(British Museum, The Bayeux Tapestry)

The Beverley display costs nothing and needs no booking.

When you can see it in Beverley

The display is upstairs in the Champney Treasure House, Champney Road, HU17 8HE. Entry is free. East Riding Museums lists these opening times:

Day Opening times
Monday to Friday 9.30am to 4.45pm
Saturday 9am to 3.45pm
Sunday and bank holidays Closed

(East Riding Museums, Champney Treasure House Museum)

The council gives the closing date as Sunday 11 July. The museum is closed on Sundays, so the last day you can actually walk in looks like Saturday 10 July 2027. Check before you travel if you are leaving it late.

Councillor Nick Coultish, the council’s cabinet member for culture, leisure and tourism, called it “this wonderful display”. Sally Hayes, curator of the Champney Treasure House Museum, said she had “discovered so much about the fascinating world of ancient dyes and weaving techniques along the way”.

What it means for you

  • Go any weekday or Saturday. It is free, and there is no rush: the display is on for nine months.
  • Want the real thing? London bookings for January to March open on Wednesday 21 October. The September to December slots sold out.
  • Want to hear more? The heritage society’s next talk is on Tuesday 13 October at 7.30pm at Stamford Bridge Village Hall, on how Old English dialects competed. It is free to members and £3 to everyone else. (Battle of Stamford Bridge Heritage Society, events)
  • Driving in? The museum says there is pay and display parking behind the building on Saturdays only; the nearest car park is Grayburn Lane. Our guide to parking in Beverley has the charges. The train and bus stations are a five-minute walk away.
  • The Open Art Exhibition is in the same building until 17 December. More ideas are in our guide to things to do in East Yorkshire.

Sources