Wake up to Woodstock,Woodsock Wall Hangings,Sub-Page

The Woodstock Broderers
In the Autumn of 1985, a group of ladies were asked by the P.C.C. of St. Mary Magdelene Church to organise the re-making of kneelers. No funds were available but, gradually, a certain amount of individual sponsorship was obtained. Very few experienced needleworkers were available, therefore classes were arranged on a weekly basis.

The scheme was the victim of its own success and, about 10 years later, the church had around 300 kneelers and many visitors to see them.

What of the workers? They had enjoyed the experience and some of them decided to form a loosely organised 'club' The Woodstock Broderers and to create a series of wall hangings depicting the history of Woodstock. Fortunately, the Town Council agreed to exhibit them in the Assembly Room and has helped with the cost of hanging and backing them.

Making of the Wallhangings
The designs are by Brenda Cripps, while Jean Panter, a trained embroidery teacher, directed the work.

The hangings show the history of the town during the 1000 years between Ethelred and the end of 1999 in 17 panels, of various sizes. Both the design style and, wherever possible, the embroidery techniques used, have been selected according to the designs and techniques known, and in use, at the period depicted in the panel. This should enable the visitor, when looking at the panel, to more readily appreciate the time scale.

The idea of varied design style and technique is unusual in narrative embroideries, most of which incorporate only one style, but also show only a limited period of history. For example both the Bayeux Tapestry and the Overlord Embroidery 'cover' periods of less than 20 years. The Overlord Embroidery can be seen in Portsmouth and depicts the invasion of France during World War II.

In order to 'test' the viability of this approach, the Broderers did not work the panels in their historical sequence but instead chose to work isolated ones from different periods of history and then to hang them and assess the impact in the room for which they were designed.

Another unusual feature that the visitor cannot fail to notice is that the size and shape of the panels is not constant, as they had to fit in to the wall space available between windows. The Woodstock Town Council (and our visitors) have been very sympathetic, and have not complained about the piece-meal way in which the series was assembled.

Attention has also been given to the colours used, keeping these, as far as possible, sympathetic to the historical periods. There are very few accurately documented colourings, but we know that only a limited range of dyes were imported, or available, during the time scale of the hangings.

Continuity has been achieved by using the same designer throughout, and she regularly consulted the members of the group.