The making of the Occupation Tapestry

The Occupation Tapestry is probably the greatest community project ever undertaken in Jersey. Over 300 islanders worked for 30,000 hours to produce the tapestry which is made up of 7,500,000 stitches.

The dictionary definition of a tapestry is that it is a textile fabric in which the design is created by stitching coloured threads across the warp.

In 1988, when the island was wondering how to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Liberaton of Jersey, the newly formed Occupaton and Liberation Commitee came up with the idea that islanders should create a tapestry to show what life was like during the five years of the German Occupation.

In 1989, a Tapestry Design Sub-Committee drawn from the Channel Islands Occupation Society, Jersey Heritage Trust, Société Jersiaise and the States of Jersey was given the task of running the project which by now had grown in concept from one single piece to a multi-panelled tapestry.

An exhibiton staged by the Jersey Heritage Trust in 1990 to mark the 50th anniversary of the beginning of the Occupation had contained twelve main themes and it was felt that these were relevant to the project. Happily, it also meant that each of the island's parishes could have their own tapestry panel to work on.

Wayne Audrain, the Jersey Heritage Trust designer, took the ideas of the different themes to create a design which worked as twelve individual pieces but when shown together created a single work. Once checked for historical accuracy and the colours selected, the designs were drawm up to full size and transferred on to canvas. Although broad colour guides were given, the stitchers were able to use their owm artistic talents on areas such as the sky and the sea.

The parishes drew lots to select their panel and start dates were staggered. The first panel was started in February 1991 and the last in November 1993. Each team of stitchers was headed by a parish co-ordinator, while the overall quality and development of the tapestry was handled by the two island co-ordinators and the designer. This pattern of contact was important to ensure both the historical and artistic accuracy of the tapestry and to help the run smoothly.

In addition to the regular team, each parish held open days when islanders and visitors were invited to place a stitch in the tapestry. So while the number of stitchers were about 300, the actual number was several thousand.

The completed tapestries were taken to the Textile Conservation Centre at Hampton Court Palace where they were stretched and mounted to ensure a long life.

The Occcupation Tapestry was officially unveiled by the Prince of Wales on Liberation Day 1995 and was moved to its own building on the New North Quay in 1996.