Creators at great lengths to find place for giant tapestry

IT is the length of a football pitch, has taken more than 10 million stitches, over 15,000 hours' worth of sewing and £50,000 - and now it may have no place to go.

The Prestonpans Tapestry might be the longest piece of embroidery in the world, but its monster size has left the creators in a pickle - they can't find a museum or gallery in the Lothians with space to keep it.

The 200 volunteers who pieced together the masterpiece - inspired by the Bayeux Tapestry - are searching far and wide to find a suitable place for it to be displayed.

Ideas have included adding an extension to the Prestongrange Heritage Museum, where it is to be unveiled on 26 July, or making a specially created ring-shaped building that will act as a mini-museum for the artwork.

But for now, Andrew Crummy, head artist and illustrator, is scratching his head as to what to do next.

He said: "It is a bit of a problem, but we're not panicking yet. We don't know where to put it because it's so big and nobody has the room. We're having to keep it in a marquee at the museum because there isn't room in the building.

"It isn't much of a problem because after the two-day launch we're taking it on tour. But when it comes back in September it'll need somewhere to live. We have a couple of ideas, and one of the architects on our team, Gareth Byrne-Jones, even drew a ring-shaped building that we'd make in an ideal world, but we're open to all offers and suggestions."

The tapestry, which tells the story of Bonnie Prince Charlie's early campaign in 1745, spans over 104 metres. Created by members of the Battle of Prestonpans 1745 Heritage Trust over two years, it is set to travel across the country after the initial launch.

Mr Crummy, from Craigmillar, then hopes it will find a suitable home in Prestonpans. He said: "It was designed to be a local project that would stay around here, and that is still the plan as long as we can find somewhere to put it. The most promising location at the moment is the Prestongrange Mining Museum, and they are currently discussing whether they can accommodate it.

"The work is similar to the Bayeux Tapestry in its storytelling style, but it is more Scottish. It's rather rugged and there's a lot of local symbolism."

Altogether it is made up of 104 panels that each measure about a metre. They were sewn together by about 200 women who live all over the world. Although 50 per cent of the contributors were from Edinburgh, others sewed in the USA, Australia and France.

A number are travelling to Prestonpans to witness the unveiling.

The story shows a scene from the journey of the Prince and his followers, from the time he landed in Scotland in August 1745, to their victory at Prestonpans in September.

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