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Volunteers aim to sew town's 1,200-year history

Pamela TickellNorth East and Cumbria
News imageThe Friends of St Cuthbert’s Church, Billingham A person is using a pencil on a colourful cloth design. There are blue and whites depicting the sky at the top and rolling hills dotted with flowers below. Only the person's hands are visible.The Friends of St Cuthbert’s Church, Billingham
Six fabric panels will depict the history of Billingham and St Cuthbert's Church

Volunteers are working on an embroidered timeline to record a town's 1,200-year history.

The Friends of St Cuthbert's Church, Billingham, commissioned six panels depicting the "tiny little church on the hill" in the 9th century, through to the town's industrialisation and the influx of people coming to work in shipbuilding and chemicals.

Volunteer Jackie Ward said the story remained relevant because "without the economic migrants, the town really wouldn't have become what it is now".

Artist Harriet Mee said trying to fit hundreds of years of history into the designs was "quite a tall order", but she was honoured to be trusted with the job.

The charity is taking ownership of St Cuthbert's Church from the Church of England following proposals to close it due to costs and falling attendance.

Twelve volunteers of "all ages and skills" had already been working on the panels for a couple of months and it is hoped it will be completed by April.

"They're already learning things that they've never done before," Ward said, including applique, sewing and learning to upscale designs.

News imageHarriet Mee / Supplied A composite image of a design on the left and the actual fabric panel on the right. There are rolling hills which are lush with wildlife and trees. There is a small church in the middle and a Viking ship on the horizon.Harriet Mee / Supplied
The first panels depict the historical origins of the church

Mee, who is a freelance artist based in Stockton, said the first three panels depicted the historical origins of the area from Anglo-Saxon times in 850 AD and showcased a wild landscape eventually being cultivated for farming.

"Panel four feels so different because it's the introduction of the rapid industrialization of our area."

Ward said: "From 1801 we had 926 people living in the area and by 1961 we had 32,000.

"That huge thing was due to the influx of people who were economic migrants for the likes of ICI, the shipyards."

Mee said she had tried to stay true to local landmarks by using archive images when designing the skyline.

The sixth and final panel envisioned a "cleaner and more sustainable future", full of wildlife and featuring windfarms off the coast, she said.

News imageHarriet Mee Three sketches side by side. On the right, there are workers standing by a steam train. There is smoke rising from industrial buildings in the background. In the middle, a banner reads: "Mother Church". There are people playing football and dancing in the foreground. The area is still industrialised and there is still smoke overhead. The panel on the right has flowers in the foreground. The industrial buildings are replaced with wind turbines. There is a child running while holding a streamer aloft in the centre.Harriet Mee
The final three panels depict rapid industrialisation and hopes for a greener future

Ward said the work was appropriate in "this year of the Bayeux Tapestry" coming to the UK.

"We're very quick to pull areas down and say the town centre's rubbish, the unemployment, the houses, and what not," she said.

"But at the end of the day we've still got an awful lot to be proud of and we need to continue reminding ourselves on that."

There hopes the panels will be exhibited at Billingham Library before being displayed in the church.

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