On Tuesday 8th October, the Year 7 cohort visited a local gallery as part of a joint History and Art trip. 

Students walked from school to the Bridge Point Gallery in Rye to view the Hastings Tapestry This is a 27 panel work that was created to commemorate the 900th anniversary of the Battle of Hastings. It was designed and created by the Royal College of Needlework, taking over a year to make, and is in the same style as the famous Bayeux Tapestry which shows the events of the year 1066 and the decisive Battle of Hastings.

The tapestry had been on display in Hastings in the 1960s, and had attracted visitors from all walks of life, including royalty when it was originally shown. It had then been stored of over 4 decades before touring the country again as part of the 950th anniversary of the Norman Conquest. It begins with the Battle of Hastings, moving through key events such as the Battle of Agincourt in 1415, Guy Fawkes' attempt on the parliament buildings in 1605, the Great Plague of 1665, through to major events of WW1 and WW2 and ending with Winston Churchill.  

Students were able to view the different panels that were on display and discuss which events they felt were the most important. The Art department will be facilitating additional learning around the tapestry in lessons, and will be launching Rye College's entrants into the national competition to design an additional panel of the tapestry to cover the period of 1966-present. Students will be asked to design the panel to be in keeping with the original tapestry, and to demonstrate what they feel has been the key points from the past 50+ years. The competition will be judged by the Royal College of Needlework, and the winner will be created by them and awarded a £500.00 prize!