Prestonpans Tapestry

The Prestonpans Tapestry is a large embroidery created - and normally situated in - Prestonpans, East Lothian, Scotland.

Its full title is "The Battle of Prestonpans Tapestry 1745".

The design, size and style were inspired by the Bayeux Tapestry; however, the Prestonpans Tapestry deals with the events before, during and after the Battle of Prestonpans on 21 September 1745 where Bonnie Prince Charlie triumphed over the Hanoverian Army led by Sir John Cope.

The Tapestry is – like the Bayeux Tapestry – an embroidered cloth, rather than a woven tapestry. It is annotated in English but an animated DVD is also available in French and text materials in French and Gaelic. More than two hundred embroiderers created the work over a two-year period; more than half these reside in Scotland from the places where Bonnie Prince Charlie marched to his Victory. Other embroiderers with family links come from as far as the US, Australia and New Zealand.

The complete community artwork measures 104 metres (341 ft), and consists of 103 panels, each one metre long and 500mm high. It is about 30 metres (98 ft) longer than the Bayeux example.

The completed work was unveiled to a private gathering of 500 of the embroiderers and their friends on 26 July 2010, at The Greenhills near Cockenzie Power Station which is on the edge of the Prestonpans battlefield itself. It has since travelled around the Highlands and Lowlands, to England and France attracting over 150,000 visitors in its first two years.

Exhibitions have included the Scottish Parliament and the Scottish Storytelling Centre, St. Mary's Cathedral, Edinburgh, to coincide with the Edinburgh Festival in 2011 and 2012, Alexandra Palace in London and Pornichet/ St Nazaire in France - from where the Prince embarked to launch his campaign in 1745. In September and October 2013 it will be exhibited in Bayeux by invitation of the world-famous tapestry that was its inspiration.

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