Volunteers embroider cathedral's medieval ceiling

Dozens of volunteers have recreated 900 years of Peterborough Cathedral's history through embroidery.

On Tuesday, a large-scale needlepoint interpretation of the cathedral's medieval painted nave ceiling was unrolled for the first time.

The three-quarters finished artwork, measuring 12ft 2in (3.7m) long and containing more than 1.5 million stitches, has been a work in progress for the last eight years and is due to be completed in 2027.

The Very Reverend Chris Dalliston, dean of Peterborough Cathedral, called it an "extraordinary work of art".

The embroidery includes designs of the upside-down goat, monkey and owl panels, as well as kings and bishops.

"Our wonderful team of embroiderers have, over the last few years, recreated this treasure through a skilful, patient and painstaking process that honours the original, but also represents its historic imagery in a new medium and a new way - a work of art in its own right," said Dalliston.

"It's a piece of work where so many different hands, eyes and fingers have been involved in stitching all those individual stitches. It's an important piece of collaborative teamwork."

The embroidery was originally commissioned in 1986 from the Royal School of Needlework before being passed to the cathedral in 2018.

The team of volunteers, who grew from seven in 2018 to about 25 embroiderers, have worked in five weekly sessions at the cathedral, with about 80 visitors and members of the clergy contributing at least one stitch.

Elaine Harburn, team leader of the embroiderers, said: "I was astonished when it was unrolled… I thought, have we really done all that?

"People visiting the cathedral ask, 'how big is it?' and 'how long have you been doing it?'

"We've had people from Australia put in a stitch. We've even had someone who was born in Mongolia and now lives in Peterborough.

"And people come back repeatedly and say, 'last time I was here, you were only there, and now you're here - you've grown that much.'

"It's wonderful that people have taken an interest over several years."

Once finished, the cathedral will begin planning how to display the work.

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