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Prestonpans Tapestry

Detail of the Prestonpans tapestry. Detail of the Prestonpans tapestry.

The Prestonpans tapestry is a commemorative embroidery, based on the theme of the battle of Prestonpans, East Lothian, Scotland, on 21st September 1745. The official title is 'The Battle of Prestonpans Tapestry 1745'. The embroidery was inspired by the Bayeux tapestry.

The battle was fought between the Scottish Jacobite army loyal to James Stuart and led by his son, Charles Stuart (Bonnie Prince Charlie) against George II’s English/Hanoverian army led by Sir John Cope. It is regarded as the first significant conflict in the Jacobite Rising of 1745. The Jacobites defeated the government troops.

The creation of the Prestonpans tapestry was inspired by Gordon Prestoungrange (Baron of Prestoungrange). The Scottish artist Andrew Crummy designed it, while Dorie Wilkie led the embroidery team of more than 200 stitchers. Most of the stitchers lived in Scotland, but others came from countries where Scottish families had emigrated. The finished work was unveiled on 26th July 2010, on the edge of the Prestonpans battlefield. The complete community artwork is 104 m long and consists of 103 panels, each 1 m x 0.50 m in size. The Prestonpans tapestry is about thirty metres longer than the Bayeux tapestry and took over two years to stitch.

See also the TRC Needles entries on the The Great Tapestry of Scotland and the Scottish Diaspora tapestry.

Sources:

YouTube (with an introduction by Andrew Crummy) (retrieved 7 May 2016).

Digital source of illustration (retrieved 20 June 2016).

GVE

Last modified on Wednesday, 19 April 2017 18:58