The Millennium Tapestry
The Knutsford Millennium Tapestry is the outstanding exhibit of the Heritage Centre, capturing life in Knutsford in the year 2000. The 40ft long tapestry contains 6,500,000 stitches across three panels named Tatton, Canute and Toft. It is truly an amazing piece of art which features a vast range of buildings and scenes and contains a number of 'easter eggs' - hidden stories and scenes.
The Story
The original idea to celebrate the millennium year of 2000 was conceived by the then-Knutsford Town Mayor, Miss Jennifer Holbrook, and brought to fruition by the artistic inspiration and guidance of the skilled embroiderer Sue Newhouse and a small team of stitchers, with contributions from 3,000 people from the town. Between 1997 and 2001 it blossomed into a three-panelled masterpiece.
It was initially exhibited in the Knutsford Civic Centre but was then moved to the Knutsford Heritage Centre to a purpose-made gallery. "Disaster" struck in 2011 when it was found to have become infested with carpet beetles. But once again the town rallied round. The Knutsford Guardian organized the ‘Stitch in Time’ appeal and many local people and businesses helped to raise the £20,000 required for professional conservation, total re-framing and re-hanging.
We've produced a short video that explains the creation of the tapestry and shows some of its magic - you can view it on our video page.
Tapestry Talk
You can enjoy a 30 minute talk on the masterpiece from our expert volunteers. You'll hear how and why it was made and learn the real life stories at the heart of the tapestry.
