A monumental Lancashire Tapestry for Her Majesty The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee woven here in Burnley

This year marks Her Majesty the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee – a celebration of 70 years of service to the people of the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth. Her Majesty has a special connection to Lancashire as the Duke of Lancaster as Monarch. To celebrate this historic occasion, Lord Shuttleworth and his deputy lieutenants have commissioned a local artist to create a piece of artwork that showcases lasting memories from the last 70 years.

The Lancashire Tapestry

After a rigorous selection process, Jamie Holman, a local artist born and based in Blackburn, has created a monumental tapestry woven at the last remaining traditional cotton weaver in Lancashire, John Spencer Textiles. The Lancashire Tapestry will be unveiled at a special ceremony at Blackburn Cathedral on 1 June 2022. The tapestry is 18 metres long x 1.6 metres and features images based on photographs from the Talbot Archive, a collection of pictures taken in and around Blackburn over the last seven decades. The tapestry is accompanied by 70 minutes of audio taken from the recordings of 70 people who have been alive since the Queen ascended to the throne in 1952. Jamie said: “I wanted to make this a time capsule piece not of just our Monarch’s 70 years, but for 70 years of her people and their memories during her reign.”

Woven in Lancashire

Woven from 66,000 threads of recycled cotton that would have otherwise gone to landfill, this design is the longest pattern repeat that John Spencer have ever woven. Deborah Russell, Senior Designer at John Spencer, has digitally merged all seven images to create one tapestry design that has been woven on one of their five modern jacquard looms at their Burnley-based weaving mill. Last year the business celebrated 150 years of continuous production in Burnley.

Jamie Holman commented: “Lancashire has the best textile manufacturing facilities in the UK, so it was important to keep the production of this tapestry with local businesses in the county. Having previously worked and developed trusted relationships with Deborah at John Spencer, I was confident that they would exceed my expectations for this unique project with a quick turnaround.”

The installation is housed in a horse-shoe frame, backed in locally manufactured velvet and will be displayed at Blackburn Cathedral until January 2023. It will then tour other venues throughout Lancashire and the UK before moving into national archives.

Blackburn Cathedral
Cathedral Close
Blackburn
BB1 5AA