Exciting Spring 2027 exhibition announced as part of 'Bayeux Around Britain'

The Box Plymouth is proud to partner with the British Museum on 'Bayeux Around Britain'. The 2026 Art Fund Museum of the Year will present the biggest public digital screening anywhere in the country of the legendary Bayeux Tapestry, a 70-metre-long masterpiece telling the story of the conquest of England in 1066, by William, Duke of Normandy. The tapestry will be brought to life through a suite of specially developed digital assets that will enable audiences to explore its extraordinary detail up close.

'Bayeux Around Britain, supported by WorldQuant', is a nationwide programme designed by the British Museum to communicate the story and significance of the Bayeux Tapestry to as many people as possible, and make it more accessible to schoolchildren.

Through a network of more than 60 partner organisations providing education programming, including museums, galleries, libraries, archives, cathedrals and heritage sites, the programme will ensure that Bayeux Tapestry-related activity is within an hour's drive of two-thirds of the country, while the digital experience is available to all schoolchildren everywhere. The initiative reflects the Museum's ambition that this historic loan should be a national moment, reaching far beyond London and engaging communities across the UK.

The exhibition at The Box will see visitors step inside a thousand years of English history. In 1066, the Battle of Hastings changed the course of a nation. Almost 850 years later, the Battle of the Somme marked a similar turning point that would define the twentieth century. This spring, during the European Year of the Norman, The Box brings these two history-defining moments to the same space.

The screening of The Bayeux Tapestry will be paired with 14 paintings, shown together for the first time, from The Box’s art collection by Robert Borlase Smart (1881-1947), a Westcountry artist who lived through and depicted the Battle of the Somme. Borlase Smart led a fascinating life: he was a painter who exhibited at the Royal Academy 16 times, a journalist and art critic for the Western Morning News, a War Artist who served on the Western Front in the first World War, a teacher and a founding member of the St Ives School.

At the heart of the season is the biggest engagement space The Box has created since it opened for the first time in September 2020: a dynamic hub for creativity, conversation and discovery. Alongside the monumental stories of 1066 and the First World War, visitors of all ages will be invited to explore how history is made, remembered and passed on. Schools, families and community groups will be able to take part in an inspiring programme of hands-on workshops, creative activities and storytelling projects, encouraging them to look closely at the past and consider the stories that shape our lives today. From recording memories and family histories to creating artworks inspired by the exhibition, everyone is invited to become a storyteller.

As Plymouth looks ahead to 2028 and the 100th anniversary of its city status, these contributions will help build a unique community archive, capturing the voices, experiences and memories of the people who call the city home - using two of the world's great historical narratives to set the stage for Plymouth to tell its own story.

Bringing together personal stories from across generations, Bayeux, Battles and Making History will create new connections between local lives and world-changing events, celebrating the ways history is shared, preserved and reimagined by each generation.

Who tells history and how is it told? This spring, The Box is inviting everyone to find out and add their own chapter.

Bayeux, Battles and Making History will run at The Box from 13 February-11 April 2027. Free tickets will be available to book from 12pm on Tuesday 6 October.

Image credits
Bayeux Tapestry © La Fabrique de patrimoines en Normandie / Antoine Cazin.
Robert Borlase Smart, Calvary at Étrun, 1917. Courtesy of The Box Plymouth.