Reading Museum; home of Britain's own Bayeux Tapestry and the lost Roman town of Silchester
/No need to go to France to see the Bayeux Tapestry, go to Reading Museum instead……… and it’s free!
It’s there in its entirety for all to see and its free! Whilst you are there, have a look at the Silchester exhibition, the story of the old Roman town of Calleva Atrebatum that was abandoned and returned to agricultural land. Behind the museum are the remains of Reading Abbey, one of the largest in the country and the burial place of Henry I (the son of William the Conqueror).
This is what you can see at the Reading Museum. OK it’s not the original one made in the eleventh century but it is an excellent copy made in the 19th century (see below for more information.
Below the picture of the tapestry is a model which shows the layout of Calleva Altrebatum and after that is Reading Abbey as it looks today.
What is the story of Reading’s Bayeux Tapestry?
In 1885 a Victorian lady Elizabeth Wardle, a keen member of the Leek Embroidery Society in Staffordshire, visited Bayeux in France and was so impressed by the Bayeux Tapestry that she suggested that her society should make one for Britain. Thirty-five ladies worked on it for a whole year using just 8 colours and basing their version from photographs of the original. The only difference is that it was decided that they should not display naked individuals as in the original but give these men small pants to cover their genitalia! Ten years later, having been exhibited across England as well as in America and Germany, the decision was made to sell it whilst it was on display in Reading and the Mayor of Reading was successful in his bid of £300.
How did William the Conqueror become king of England?
Follow the fascinating story of the Norman Conquest the Bayeux Tapestry copy
The Tapestry tells the story of the Norman Conquest of England from just before the death of King Edward the Confessor to the victory in 1066 of William the Conqueror.
Here is King Edward the Confessor of England (Edward Rex) He is on his throne with his crown
There are potentially 4 claimants to the throne of England jostling for position before Edward dies. Here we can see William, Duke of Normandy on the left who has proclaimed that Edward is named by King Edward as his heir. On the right there is the main English claimant, Harold Godwinson who can be seen making a promise on holy saint’s bones that he acknowledges William’s rightful claim to the throne. The other two claimants were Edgar Aetheling, the closest blood relative to King Edward (but only a young boy) and Harald Hardrada, a Viking who claims the throne form a promise made to his relative by King Hardecnut, Edward’s predecessor.
Here we can see Edward is very ill in the top scene and has died in the bottom scene (“et his defunct est”)
In this scene William is getting his equipment together to mount an invasion of England. He is having to invade it because he has been double crossed by Harold Godwinson who has been made King of England by the royal council, the Witan. According Anglo-Saxon (English) sources, on Edward’s deathbed he gave the throne to Harold, forgetting or ignoring any possible promise to William.
Here we can see William sailing at last to invade England at last! This is because he had to wait several months for favourable winds, so long, in fact, that Harold was not there to meet him. Harold had to race to Yorkshire to face the invasion of the Viking claimant, Harald Hardrada. Having defeated Hardrada, Harold now had to race down south to meet William’s army.
How did William the Conqueror win the Battle of Hastings?
Here William’s army is preparing to charge up the hill to attack Harold’s army. Harold has the advantage being on the hill as horses do not like attacking up hill, especially against a shield wall and the double handed axes of Harold’s frontline soldiers the “Housecarls”. A house carl could chop a horse’s head off with one swing of the axe!
Here we can see Harold’s impregnable shield wall and William’s cavalry attacking it. This takes place several times before William changes his tactics.
It appears that as long as the shield wall holds, victory is Harold’s. William’s men on horseback are being brutally slaughtered! At this point, the “Housecarls” are winning the battle for Harold.
At some point the battles going badly for the Normans and a rumour spreads that their leader, William is dead. On hearing this, William takes his helmet off to assure his men that he is very much alive as you can see on the right of the photo. This inspires William to adopt a new tactic of charging up the hill but quickly retreating which lures some of Harold’s less experienced soldiers (the ford) down the hill hoping to chase them right back to the shore! On reaching the flat ground, William’s cavalry turn around and take advantage of the flat land to slaughter the pursuing Anglo-Saxons.By repeating this tactic, holes develop in the once solid shield wall.
How did Harold die in the Battle of Hastings?
These holes in the shield wall begin to result in successful attacks from William’s army. Close to the end, Williams orders his archers to fire on the Anglo-Saxons and it may well be that Harold got shot in the eye. If you look closely at the photo above a soldier with the word Harold above him has an arrow in his eye and therefore it is believed by some that this is how Harold died. However, the bulk of the sentence, “Harold Rex intefectus est” (King Harold is killed) is above the next soldier who has two swords in him. This fits with some of the contemporary sources and, therefore, others state that this was how Harold died. Some people interpret Harold as appearing twice as in a comic strip and so he is shot and as he is falling has been attacked with swords when he cannot defend himself! What we can be certain is that Harold did get killed and William was able to go on to win the battle and claim the throne of England.
Calleva Atrebatum (Silchester)exhibition, the Roman town that disappeared
It has recently been discovered that the Roman town of Calleva Atrbatum began life as an Iron Age town in the first century BC developed by the Atrebates tribe. By the end of the first century AD it had been taken over by the Romans and a typical Roman town with its streets crossing at right angles was created. It had all the typical features of a Roman town eg baths, basilica, forum, temples and outside the walls, at the top of this model, an amphitheatre.
Discover everyday life in Roman Britain
You will find Roman cookery utensils
You can see in the photo above a quern. This was for grinding corn into flour.
Below you can see evidence of everyday adult and children’s games. On the left are glass counters, at the bottom left are dice and at the top right are bones used in a popular Roman game called “knucklebones”.
Below you can see a set of carpenter’s tools. In the middle is a plane for smoothing wood which is very much like the plane that carpenters use today if they are not using one powered by an electric motor.
How do we know a lot about the Romans? Because they learnt to read and write. Writing was done with the styli on the left of the photo below onto a wax covered tablet, scratching out letters, words and Roman numerals.
This hoard of silver coins is dated 195 AD. In total , 258 coins were discovered in a pit near the west gate although not all of them are displayed here.
Footprints preserved in time. When these two tiles were left to dry dog and a chicken trod on them.
The most important find from the Basilica is the bronze eagle. It is thought to be part of a statue of the god, Jupiter and was positioned at his foot. It has been suggested that this inspired the famous children’s book, “The Eagle of The Ninth” by Rosemary Sutcliffe. When the book was written in 1954, the eagle was thought to be part of a legion’s standard and her book is about the quest to get it back.
To have a quick tour of Roman Silchester and Reading Museum’s exhibits watch this short video
To see what a dig at Silchester looks like, watch the video below made in the summer of 2019 when they were excavating the Roman baths. At the end of the video, the archaeologist mentions that they will again be excavating another section of the site so go along and have a look. You can see the site, the archaeologists at work as well as some of the finds and it is to my knowledge, free. (It was when we visited it)
Have a look at the Reading Abbey Exhibition and then go behind the museum/town hall complex and see the ruins.
You can see this model in Reading Museum. Have a good look at it before you see the ruins.
An archaeological dig uncovered a medieval wharf the banks fo the nearby River Kennet and here is a model depicting the wharf and associated Reading Abbey. From here the stone from Caen in France would have been unloaded to build the important sections of the abbey as well as provisions to meet its daily requirements.
How big was Reading Abbey?
Floor tiles from the Abbey Church
It was founded (created) in 1121 by King Henry I with the idea that when he died he would be buried there. Therefore, being linked to a king, it was never going to be small. The abbey church looked like a cathedral. Its nave, the longest part of the church, was 61 metres which is bigger than the naves of Canterbury and Durham cathedrals. Henry I set it up with a lot of land in Reading as well as land as far away as Herefordshire.
How important was Reading Abbey?
It became one of the ten richest abbeys in the country and it had status to go with those riches. The Abbot of Reading Abbey was allowed to sit in parliament!
Things you might not know about Reading Abbey
Pilgrims came from all over to see the “hand of St James” and allegedly 230 other holy relics. Plenty of opportunities to have miraculous healing, for forgiveness and a better chance of getting to heaven! As a consequence, historians have estimated from the size of the hospitium, the place where hospitality was given to pilgrims, that the abbey could accommodate up to 400 pilgrims at a time!
Henry I was buried there
It has been visited by;
a.King Steven and Empress Matilda
b. Henry II stayed there 10 times
c. King John visited there 22 occasions, staying 61 days in total
d. Henry III, visited it regularly and stayed there238 days in total
e. Edward III 15 times during which 4 royal weddings took place!
f. Young Prince Arthur, eldest son and heir of Henry VII stayed there whilst waiting for his bride to be, Catherine of Aragon, to make her way from Plymouth to London.
g. The list goes right up to Henry VIII, who visited regularly until the reformation when he closed it down! Henry even brought Anne Boleyn in 1529 and 1535.
h. A parliament under Henry VI met there in 1440 and 1453.
Looking at this long list of royal connections it leaves no doubt that Reading Abbey was a highly important place in medieval times.
To prove that the Pilgrims had successfully completed their pilgrimage, they would collect badges and here is Reading’s pilgrim badge showing the three scallop shells, which form the coat of arms of Reading Abbey as well as the emblem for St James.
Henry VIII didn't just take the abbey over - he had it trashed! (This was after he purloined all the gold and valuables). Hence, the once spectacular abbey is now in ruins.
This restored abbey gateway (2018)
What happened to the last abbot of Reading Abbey?
Despite being on friendly terms with Henry VIII, the last abbot, Hugh Cook Faringdon was executed for treason in November 1439. He had committed treason because he refused to hand over the abbey to the king and refused to acknowledge royal supremacy, ie that Henry VIII was the head of the church! He was sentenced to the gruesome death of being hanged, drawn and quartered. Equally as gruesome, his remains were left hanging outside the abbey gateway in chains for all to see!
Essential information
Getting there
By car; Reading has several carparks a short walk from the museum and a “Park and Ride scheme”. It has a good shopping centre near the museum and lots of coffee/eating places. Behind the museum, you will find Forbury gardens, once part of the abbey but a lovely place to sit on a bench and eat a sandwich.
By train; Reading station is only a few hundred yards from the museum
Tickets
Both the Museum and the abbey as well as Silchester are all three.
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