The director of the British Museum, Nicholas Cullinan, has apologised to visitors who had a poor experience at the Bayeux Tapestry exhibition, as the museum introduces changes to ease overcrowding. Longer opening hours, an audio guide, extra seating and clearer signs are among the new measures.
Complaints have centred on queues. Some visitors reported waits of up to two hours, and last week hundreds of ticket holders were reportedly turned away because of backlogs when the museum closed early for a private event. Speaking to the BBC’s culture and media editor, Katie Razzall, Cullinan said the museum was “really sorry” and wanted to put things right.
He denied that too many tickets had been sold. The problem, he said, is that people want to spend longer with the work than expected, with some staying beyond their 40-minute slot and leaving those behind them to move through more quickly. He confirmed the museum had asked its counterparts in Bayeux for advice on queues and timings, and said the show was about to welcome its 100,000th visitor three weeks into its run. Visitors who were turned away are being refunded, and he called compensation for travel costs “a possibility”, while pointing to the high cost of staging the exhibition.
Accessibility has also drawn criticism, because the embroidery must be displayed flat, which makes it harder for wheelchair users to see. Cullinan said the museum had done everything it could within that requirement. Demand has been high since July, when a record 100,000 tickets sold on the first day, and further releases are planned for October and January. Adult tickets cost £33 at peak times and £27 off-peak, compared with €12 (£10) in Bayeux, and children under 16 go free.
The 70-metre work shows 58 scenes from the Norman conquest of England, including the Battle of Hastings in 1066 and the end of Anglo-Saxon rule. Although it is called a tapestry, it is an embroidery featuring around 626 human figures and 200 horses. It is on loan from the French government, having left Normandy, where it has been shown since 1983, and it is the first time it has returned to the UK since it was made more than 900 years ago. It stays in London until July 2027.
