Recreation of famous Bayeux Tapestry

The tapestry, which famously details the important events leading up to the Norman Conquest of England, through to the Battle of Hastings, has been crafted by special permission of the City of Bayeux and the Bayeux Museum in France.

It has been printed on special mica-coated paper, detailing each stitch of the tapestry and spans 43 metres on a rolling system, encased in a table for easy viewing.

While the artefact has been compiled in parts before, never has the whole tapestry been brought to life as a whole.

A total of 480 of them have been produced and the Folio Society said it hopes libraries, museums, schools and the public will be among those taking the opportunity to own a piece of history.

Depicting the events that culminated in William of Normandy’s victory over Harold Godwinson, the last Saxon king of England, at Hastings on October 14, 1066, the Bayeux Tapestry consists of 70 metres of embroidered cloth. The tapestry contains 632 human figures, 202 horses, 55 dogs, 505 other creatures, both real and mythological, 37 buildings (including the earliest depiction of Westminster Abbey), 41 ships and nearly 2,000 Latin letters.

The Bayeux Tapestry is now part of UNESCO’s Memory of the World register.

The Battle of Hastings took place approximately seven miles northwest of the town, close to Battle.

The background to the battle was the death of the childless King Edward the Confessor in January 1066, which kicked off a succession struggle between several claimants to his throne.

Harold was crowned shortly after Edward’s death, but faced invasions by William, his own brother Tostig and the Norwegian King Harald Hardrada.

The first reference to the Bayeux Tapestry is from 1476 when it was listed in an inventory of the treasures of Bayeux Cathedral.

The recreation is priced at £1,920 including VAT.

Visit www.foliosociety.com for more details.

Don’t miss out on all the latest breaking news where you live.

Here are four ways you can be sure you’ll be amongst the first to know what’s going on.

1) Make our website your homepage

2) Like our Facebook page

3) Follow us on Twitter

4) Register with us by clicking on ‘sign in’ (top right corner). You can then receive our daily newsletter AND add your point of view to stories that you read here.

And do share with your family and friends - so they don’t miss out!

Always the first with your local news.

Be part of it.