Schoolboys' 1850s copy of Bayeux Tapestry restored

A drawing copy of the Bayeux Tapestry, created in almost the same scale more than 170 years ago, has been restored and put on display.

The replica, based on the embroidered depiction of the French invasion and eventual conquest of England in 1066, is now being displayed at the Great North Museum in Newcastle.

The artefact was commissioned by a teacher named John Collingwood Bruce and created by schoolboys at his school, Percy Street Academy in Newcastle, in the early 1850s.

The item had been held in storage until recently, when the museum decided to restore it after the original went on public display in the UK for the very first time.

Museum director Keith Merrin said: "It's fantastic to have it back in the UK and many tens of thousands are visiting that, but it's also a brilliant opportunity for us to join in."

The copy, which he called the "Geordie Tapestry", had sustained "some damage" in storage and had to be repaired, he said.

"There are so many treasures in the North East hidden away, often we don't have the space, time, or money to bring them out - so people have been really excited."

The replica is actually slightly larger scale, being 5m (16ft) longer than the original, which is 70m (230ft) long and about half a metre high (1.7ft).

In 1884, it was donated to the Society of Antiquaries of Newcastle, but was not discovered again until the early 1990s.

It also differs slightly by following the conventions of other Victorian copies of the tapestry by censoring up to 94 penises present in the original.

The exact count is up for debate, owed to discussions around whether a particular artefact is a daggar scabbard or phallic depiction.

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