Bayeux Tapestry exhibition changes planned as British Museum tackles London queues
The British Museum is changing how visitors experience the Bayeux Tapestry exhibition after heavy demand led to long queues, congestion and complaints from some ticket holders.
The museum says it will introduce longer opening hours, additional seating and clearer signage as it responds to what it described as an “extraordinary” public response to the 11th-century embroidery. An audio guide will also be available from Monday, giving visitors more information about the historic work as they move through the exhibition.
Some visitors have reported waits of up to two hours, while hundreds of ticket holders were reportedly unable to enter when the museum closed early last week for a private event. The museum apologised to those affected, offering refunds and priority booking for rearranged visits.
Demand for the exhibition has been unusually strong. A record 100,000 tickets were sold on the first day of the July release, and the exhibition has faced further congestion since opening on 10 September. Some visitors have also spent longer than their allocated 40-minute viewing slot, contributing to delays for later bookings.
The museum says longer opening hours are being planned to spread demand across the day and give visitors with later bookings more time to see the tapestry. Details of the revised hours have not yet been announced.
The changes come as the Bayeux Tapestry makes an extraordinary return to Britain. On loan from the French government, the 70-metre-long embroidery has left its home in Bayeux, Normandy, for the first time since it was created more than 900 years ago. It will remain at the British Museum until July 2027.
The work depicts 58 scenes linked to the Norman conquest of England and the Battle of Hastings in 1066. Despite being known as a tapestry, it is an embroidery containing around 626 human figures and 200 horses.
Visitors who missed out during the first ticket release will have two further opportunities to book, with additional tickets due to go on sale in October and January. Adult admission costs £33 at peak times and £27 off-peak, while under-16s can enter free.
For the British Museum, the challenge now is balancing unprecedented interest in one of Britain’s most important historical objects with a visit that works for the people who have secured a ticket.
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