Salisbury Cathedral’s Volunteer Embroiderers Using Medieval Techniques

Wednesday, 30 September 2026 05:00

A stitch almost lost to time, popularised from its use in the Bayeux Tapestry, has been revived by a project involving Salisbury Cathedral, eleven other English cathedrals and a prison.

The Circle of Life is the first significant embroidery project using Opus Anglicanum (English needlework) techniques in nearly 500 years. The piece, made up of 25 panels, includes 12 depicting the life of a medieval Liveryman, 12 panels that depict each individual cathedral that took part, and a panel with the motto for the City of London Livery Companies.

The Salisbury Broderers, Salisbury Cathedral’s volunteer embroidery group, worked in the Cathedral on their panels for just over a year, allowing visitors to come up and ask questions, and even practice a stitch on a separate piece. The project was conceived by the Worshipful Company of Upholders and was unveiled at the Guildhall in the City of London in July 2026, as part of an event marking the 400th anniversary of the Livery Company’s Royal Charter.

Lesley Fudge, who led the team on this project, said: “Underside couching was just one of the techniques that we used in this project. Others included satin stitch, long and short stitch, Bayeux stitch, and couched gold-work. As the piece developed, some wonderful colours were used, including ruby red, bottle green and dark blue, both wool and thread, so there is a lot to see in the finished panel.”

Image: Salisbury Cathedral

Salisbury Cathedral’s panel joined eleven others to make a 2.3 metre circle of life, Salisbury’s panel being ‘birth’. Each is accompanied by a blue silk panel with a silhouette of each Cathedral worked in gold.

With The Circle of Life now complete, plans are being made for it to tour the country, visiting each cathedral that took part over the next three years.

The team at Salisbury have wasted no time and are already on to their next project, where they are restoring a late 19th century Canticles altar frontal, made up of several richly embroidered panels. The size of this project has meant that the group has increased its numbers from 4, to 20 volunteers who are working on this piece.

There is still an opportunity to see the Broderers at work, as the Cathedral runs a Textile Treasures Tour, where visitors can see a range of ecclesiastical textiles dating back to the 18th century, and meet the lovely Salisbury Broderers at the end as they work on this restoration.

The Textile Treasures Tour run every week; to book your place, visit the Cathedral website at salisburycathedral.org.uk.