The Hastings Embroidery: the battle's 960th anniversary and the piece made for its 900th
14 October 2026 marked 960 years since the Battle of Hastings — the battle of 1066 that began the Norman conquest of England. For the anniversary the town of Hastings brought its large embroidery out of storage: since 29 August it has been on show at the Town Hall, free with advance booking (Hastings Borough Council page, listing on the local tourism site). It runs until 1 November, Thursday to Monday.
What the embroidery is
The Hastings Embroidery was made in 1966, for the battle's 900th anniversary. It was stitched by embroiderers at the Royal School of Needlework. It tells the story of British history from 1066 onwards. According to the local press, it was last shown to the public in 2019.
This year it has a famous companion: the British Museum is showing the Bayeux Tapestry, which also tells the story of 1066. See our article "The Bayeux Tapestry in London".
What a cross stitcher can take from it
- Your own chronicle. Both pieces tell stories in pictures. Try the same on a small scale: a few scene squares about a family year or a journey, stitched in one style.
- One frame for everything. A repeating border and the same background tie different scenes into a single piece.
- Dates and names. Samplers were often signed with the stitcher's name and the year. Stitch yours, as on the samplers in "Samplers as landscapes".
About the author
This article was written by the Crossette team. We're building Crossette, a cross stitch tracker for iPhone and iPad. It's in development; to join the beta, email [email protected].