The Occupation Tapestry was the biggest community art project ever undertaken in Jersey, and made by Islanders for Islanders. It was conceived in order to tell the story of what life was like during the five years of German occupation.
In 1995, the award-winning Occupation Tapestry was woven by Islanders to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the liberation from five years of occupation by the German armed forces during the Second World War. It is 13 panels, created from the memories and stories of Islanders who experienced it first-hand. The tapestry is held in the Maritime Museum.
Jersey spirit runs through the Occupation Tapestry. Each of the original 12 panels were created in a different Jersey parish and the 13th panel toured all 12 parishes, each of which depicted a scene of local life during the German Occupation.
The Occupation Tapestry was unveiled by Prince Charles, the Prince of Wales, on 9th May 1995, fifty years after the first English “Tommy” soldiers came ashore to liberate Jersey after the surrender of the German garrison on the same day.
In the museum, each of the tapestry panels has an interactive screen in front of it. By touching the screen, information, including photographs and film, tell you about the tapestry, and also what life was like back then.
Materials used to make this tapestry were 1,418 of 25 gram hanks of Appletons Crewel wool, comprising 275 shades of 52 different colours; 24 metres by 100cm wide, 16 threads to the inch, Single Brown Canvas. Each panel measures 72 inches by 34 inches, there are 626,688 stitches per panel. In all, the twelve panels contain 7,520,256 stitches
Trinity – “Outbreak of War”
St. John – “By-Passed”
St. Martin – “Red Cross”
St. Lawrence – “School and Work”
