Museums invited to mark millennium of William the Conqueror’s birth
Museums in the UK are invited to take part in an international programme to mark the millennium of the birth of William the Conqueror in 2027.
Organised by the Normandy Region in France, the culture and tourism programme will span countries with shared Norman heritage, including the UK, Ireland, the Channel Islands, southern Italy and Sicily.
It intends to celebrate the millennium through exhibitions, educational programmes, tourism trails and live performances.
The programme is supported by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), which issued a joint letter this week signed by Hervé Morin, president of the regional council of Normandy, and UK heritage minister, Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay, inviting cultural institutions to participate.
“We would like to encourage local authorities, cultural organisations, and communities from all across England to share in the activities and to make this anniversary a popular event for all,” the letter reads.
“Both the Normandy Region and DCMS would be delighted to have your participation in the events marking William’s millennium… We hope that you will help us mark this important anniversary in a fitting way, involving the many towns, villages, and counties which still hold a piece of Norman identity today.”
The story of William, Duke of Normandy’s conquest of England in the 1066 Battle of Hastings, which ushered in Britain's Norman era, is told in the 11th-century Bayeux Tapestry, widely considered one of the most valuable objects in British and French history.
A previous plan to bring the 68m-long artefact to the UK on loan fell through due to its fragile condition, but London’s Victoria & Albert Museum recently signed a memorandum of understanding with the City of Bayeux in Normandy to share research and expertise on the tapestry.
Ahead of the millennium celebrations, the Bayeux Museum in Normandy will close this year for a £32m revamp led by British architects RSHP. The project will see the construction of a contemporary extension that will reflect the “monumental nature of the tapestry”.
The Bayeux Museum recently acquired an 1872 lifesize replica of the tapestry from the estate of the late Rolling Stones drummer Charlie Watts, which it will use to track the deterioration and alterations to the tapestry over the last 150 years.
Museums can contact DCMS to discuss their ideas for the anniversary at enquiries@dcms.gov.uk. Normandy Region can be contacted at Candice.ROUSSEAU@normandie.fr or Pierre-alexandre.BEURLION@normandie.fr.