Overstrand Village and Parish Council

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The Millennium Tapestry

In the early part of 1999 Overstrand Parish Council decided that the village should celebrate the coming new millennium and to commemorate the event, the Evening W.I. made the decision to organise the making of a wall hanging to record "Overstrand Present" and funds became available through a lottery grant from "Awards for All".

Designer's names were suggested by Helen Hoyte, Vice Chairman of the Costume and Textile Association for Norfolk Museums and as a result the committee commissioned Jo Budd of Bungay, to design the 8' X 4' (2440 mm x 1220 mm) canvas and wool hanging. She presented the coloured cartoon to the committee in August 2000. Jo also provided colour schemes and working instructions and the materials were supplied by Verona Palmer of Sew & So's of Bungay.

The original cartoon was copied by Hussey & Knights of Norwich. This copy was then cut up into 18 pieces and each piece traced onto mono 12 canvas. Terence Richards framed and hung the cartoon in the Parish Hall where it is still.

The "Wall Hanging" committee, led by John Wallace, with Sonia Aylward, Teddy Cowing, Mary Haynes, Patsy Spooner, Betty Wallace and Jean Wickham, then set about organising the kits that each embroiderer would receive. Each kit contained a traced canvas with instructions for sewing and the appropriate wools, together with a sample reference card and needles, plus a photograph of the building concerned. In total 18 kits were distributed to 24 sewers, with the larger sections having two people to work on them.

Early in September 2000, 23 people met in the Parish Hall and practised binding a small square of canvas, sewing half cross stiches correctly, putting a canvas on a frame and choosing the piece they would like to sew. Betty Wallace took charge of the 74 different colours of Appletons crewel wool - and on the 18 September 2000 the kits were distributed and work began.

Members of the committee were available in the Parish Hall each Monday afternoon to give advice and issue more wool.

All of the work was completed by 24th October 2001. From then untill 17 June 2002, Mary Haynes, Patsy Spooner and Jean Wickham stretched each of the 18 pieces and joined them together. Many problems arose and each one had to be solved on an ad-hoc basis. At this point the advice of Melanie Leach - an independent conservator recommended to us by Helen Hoyte - was sought on how to complete the work and her advice was followed to the letter.

Simon Haynes delivered the hanging to the Royal School of Needlework at Hampton Court in Surrey on the 22 July 2002 for professional blocking and stretching. Gerry Francis brought it back to Overstrand just in time for it to be exhibited in the Costume & Textile Fair at Wolterton Hall.

After the Costume and Textile Fair, the interlining and Velcro was added, finally after all was completed the hanging was put on permanent display in the Overstrand Parish Hall.

The Wall Hanging Sewers

Sonia Aylward, Margaret Bradley, Audrey Brittlebank, Ann Connaughton, Betty Cossington, John Cossington, Teddy Cowing, Joan Crick, Pearl Eatough, Joyce Ess, Alice Gardener (age 7) grandaughter of Peggy Gardener, Mary Haynes, Anne Kimberley, Laura Owen, Patsy Parkinson, Rosemary Reason, Joyce Richards, Barbara Sanders, Patsy Spooner, John Wallace, Vera Webber, Jean Wickham, Jean Young.

Betty Wallace kept the wools in order.

The Vital Statistics

The completed wall hanging measures exactly 2500mm x 1238mm (98.375" x 48.6875")

There are a total of 689,704 stiches in all.

Twenty-one women, one child and two men did the stitching and one women kept the wool in order.

There are 18 separate pieces.

It is estimated by the Royal School of Needlework, that it would take one person working a 35 hour week, two years to complete the wall hanging.

There are a total of 74 different coloured wools used, 3 strands at a time.

You can see more images of the Wallhanging on the Village Photo Galleries page.

 

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