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A window on the past

As well as being a source for political events, the tapestry is also a source for cultural history because it is a record of the way 11th-century people reflected on their world. It reveals something of how people represented themselves to each other.

By show-casing the art and skill of designers and embroiderers, it tells us what early medieval people were capable of in their workshops. We can also see a little of how people lived. It demonstrates the style of castles at the time - they were originally built as wooden stockades placed atop artificial mounds.

We gain a view of the interior of famous places such as Edward the Confessor's palace at Westminster or William of Normandy's court at Rouen. There are banquets, troop actions, grisly battle scenes.