Jacob Phillips
Reporting from the British Museum

Throughout the day I've been asking people who have visited the Bayeux Tapestry exhibition to walk me through the experience.

Two key points seem to come up again and again: The awe and spectacle of standing at the top of the stairs, seeing the full length of the Bayeux Tapestry beneath you for the first time. And the vibrancy of the colours despite the embroidery being 950-odd years old.

Now it's time for me to see it for myself.

A group of 10 of us have just been allowed in and been given instructions about what we're allowed to take pictures of. The key things are no flash and keep moving.

But once inside it’s not quite the flowing experience we were hoping for.

A queue of maybe 50 people stretches along the first part of the exhibition, which features videos on the side of the wall.

The first person who saw the Bayeux Tapestry this morning was out of there in around 26 minutes. It may take us that long to reach it from here.

Thousands of soldiers, two rivals, one arrow.... here we go.

If cartwheeling horses, succession crises and grizzly battle scenes have piqued your interest then there's a wealth of extra content across the BBC for you to dive in a bit further:

• There's a special 1066 episode on the BBC podcast “You’re Dead to Me” - listen on BBC Sounds
• Meanwhile, a new iPlayer documentary follows painstaking efforts to bring the priceless work of art back to the UK: “Secrets of the Bayeux Tapestry: Inside the Museum”
• And other content on BBC Sounds answers questions like: What did the Normans ever do for us?

You've also got options if you missed out on tickets to the exhibition. We share some tips in our earlier post.

Katie Razzall
Culture editor

Image source, Reuters

I had a sneak preview of the tapestry with Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy earlier this week.

She’d already viewed it with the King, President Macron and other dignitaries, and told me when King Charles arrived at the scene of Harold’s demise, he said: "Oh dear."

She was also struck by the schoolchildren on that visit. “It could have been a blockbuster movie playing out in front of their eyes. They found it so exciting and dramatic."

I asked her about reports in the French media that two threads on the tapestry have been broken.

She said she had been reassured that “there is no significant damage” and she is “confident” the artwork will return to Bayeux - where they are building a new museum - “intact and as it was”.

Serious damage would be costly to the taxpayer as the UK government has guaranteed the work for £800m.

Nandy described it as “a big undertaking and we wouldn’t have made it lightly”.

The loan was finalised when Keir Starmer was prime minister and she shared that the new PM, Andy Burnham, “gazed at me open-mouthed when he found out how much we had indemnified it for”.

It was a moment of levity between us. She - and he - believe the work is in good hands and everything has been done to ensure it is protected.

A moment that changes the future of England foreverpublished at 15:42 BST

15:42 BST

Katie Razzall
Culture editor

The most famous scene in the tapestry comes late on (scene 57 out of 58), when Harold takes an arrow to his eye.

It’s the story so many of us learn at school, that Harold Godwinson, King of England, died at the Battle of Hastings after being shot in the eye.

In fact, it’s disputed whether the embroidered arrow was in the original Bayeux Tapestry at all or if 19th Century restorers sewed it in to tie in with the narrative that developed in the centuries after the Norman Conquest around how Harold died.

What is more certain is that the defeat in 1066 led to a dramatic social and political transformation of the country. Harold was the last Anglo-Saxon king to be crowned.

The Norman Conquest was the last successful invasion of Britain. And it was the moment when the future of England - and eventually the British Isles - changed forever.

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're now reaching the end of the Battle of Hastings, which was in full flow in our previous post.

This just in, King Harold Godwinson has been killed at the Battle of Hastings.

At number 57 of the tapestry's 58 scenes is a figure with an arrow in his eye. "Here King Harold is killed", reads the accompanying text.

But, but, but...

Historians debate whether the arrow was actually in the original version of the tapestry or added in a 19th Century restoration. While others have suggested that the slain Harold may be a different figure in this scene - a soldier on horseback to the right.

What we know for sure is that King Harold is dead, and the Battle of Hastings is over as the Anglo Saxon flee in the final scene of the tapestry.

Image source, Bayeux Museum

Sisters Sharmaine and Jennifer from Sydney, Australia, spoke to the BBC from the front of the queue before doors opened to the public.

Jennifer says she waited less than 45 minutes to buy tickets online: "[It was] straightforward, yeah got them easily. I was really surprised".

It's their last day in London, and she says that while they didn't know much about the Bayeux Tapestry, they "knew enough to know that if it was here, I needed to see it".

Historical debate rumbles on over a certain appendage in the Bayeux Tapestry.

In 2018, Oxford academic Prof George Garnett counted 93 penises – with 88 belonging to horses and another five to men.

However, another medieval scholar, Dr Christopher Monk, said he had counted one more on another man.

Prof Garnett said he believed he was still correct and that the potential penis was the scabbard of a man's dagger because "right at its end is a yellow blob", which he took to be brass.

"If you look at what are incontrovertibly penises in the tapestry, none of them have a yellow blob on the end," he told the History Extra podcast.

Is it a scabbard, dagger or sword? It's still not certain - but you can read more about this in our full story from last year.

Image source, Reuters

No, it's not the start of a joke or a riddle - it's the Bayeux Tapestry.

Women are actually at the heart of the story though, as many scholars believe the tapestry was made by English needlewomen.

Here are some other numbers from the embroidery:

• 58 scenes
• Around 68 metres in length
• 9 linen panels
• 4 coloured dyes (creating various shades)
• 5 types of stitch
• Over 620 men
• 6 women (three in the main embroidery, three in the borders)
• 737 animals
• 23 trees
• 33 buildings
• 37 ships

• 93/94 penises*

*We'll have more on this disputed figure in our next post.

Jacob Phillips
Reporting from the British Museum

Museum visitors keep telling me how moved they are by the tapestry and how well preserved its vibrant colours are.

But not everyone is happy about the exhibition experience.

Hadyn Blakeston, 55, tells me he felt like he was on a "conveyor belt" while moving along the tapestry.

"It's one long queue," he says. "I know we're supposed to love queuing, but it was extreme queuing".

He explains you're told to "move along, move along", even by the moment Harold is (maybe) struck by an arrow.

"It's the most anticipated part that you are looking for and you have missed it," he says.

His sister Victoria Blakeston, 42, agrees and tells me there is not time to look at the smaller details.

Her mother loved stitching and she wanted to have a closer look at the techniques used to make the tapestry but there wasn't time, she says.

Lee Hancock, who was visiting with the siblings, also tells me at one stage staff suggested that he skip part of the tapestry.

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 Norman 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