British Museum Predicts Record Year Ahead of Bayeux Tapestry Display
Hélène Duchêne, Ambassador of France to the United Kingdom; Nicholas Cullinan, director of the British Museum and George Osborne, the British Museum's chair of trustees pose with a billboard advertising the upcoming display a London's Piccadilly Circus. Trustees of the British Museum.
The British Museum’s chair of trustees has predicted the “biggest year” in the institution’s 273-year history, ahead of the arrival of the Bayeux Tapestry in September.
The London museum’s historic loan will see the 70-metre-long textile return to the UK for the first time in almost 1,000 years. It will go on public view in the Sainsbury Exhibitions Gallery, with the first batch of tickets available from 1 July.
In a recent statement, the museum’s chair of trustees George Osborne said: “This will be without doubt the biggest year in the Museum’s history—as we expect 7.5 million people to visit and the Bayeux Tapestry returns to UK soil.”
If the former Conservative politician turns out to be correct, 2026 will indeed become the museum’s best-ever year for visitors, marking a 10 percent increase on its previous record.
The museum last set this bench mark in 2015-16, when it welcomed over 6.8 million visitors. In 2024, the most recent year for which figures are available, it came close to equalling this success with 6.5 million visitors.
Despite various controversies, most notably related to restitution claims and concerns over sponsorship, the museum remains the UK’s most visited attraction. It also achieved this title in 2023.
The loan of the tapestry has also been a source of debate, with some conservators raising concerns about its suitability to travel. In January, artist David Hockney described the move as “madness”.
However, according to recent polling carried out by the museum, 75 percent of the public support its partnership with France and public anticipation to see the tapestry is “at an all-time high”.
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