The Millennium Banner

Hover over parts of image for relevant explanations

Wide Northumberland skies
Distant hills and moors
Forests and woodlands
The Hexham slyline, with the Abbey at its centre
People of Hexham, young and old
The River Tyne
The rosette stone
Border Forests
Red Squirrel
Moorland Heather
The curlew in the National Park
Forest deer
Sheep on the hills
Roman soldiers on the Wall
Hexham races
A pheasant
Pre-conquest chalice in Hexham Abbey
The Temperley Fountain in the Market Place
The bandstand in the Abbey Grounds
A Hexham doorway
A market stall in the Shambles
Cattle at Hexham Mart
Hexham Moot Hall
The chipboard factory overlooking the Tyne
Tyne salmon
The Tyne bridge
Mallard and ducklings
St Andrew's cross

The banner created to celebrate the arrival in Hexham of the third Christian millennium hangs prominently near the east end of the nave.

The Millennium Banner was the work of about forty members of Hexham Embroiderers' Guild, with help and advice from many others. It was designed late in 1998. Fabrics were collected and dyed during that winter. Guild members worked on the panels from March 1999, each starting with an idea and initial guidance on technique and colour, then developing it in her own way. The sections of the central panel were similarly developed and put together. All the panels were ready by August. A few brave ladies then had to wrestle with the problem of fitting all the pieces into a coherent whole, which was placed on a calico backing and lined. By early October the hanging was complete. It went on display at exhibitions before returning to Hexham, to be placed in the nave and consecrated on 21st November 1999.

The inspiration came from the name Hexham, which forms the central spine of the hanging, with the X symbolically near its heart. The lettering is based on a Celtic script, an ‘insular majuscule’ that originated in early Christian Ireland and could have been used by the first Hexham monks. This script has no different forms for its capitals, hence the small h that takes some by surprise. Each golden letter and numeral (in Arabic rather than Latin form) was embroidered on canvas by a member of the team, then applied to the completed central panel.

Six of the team worked on the central panel, designed to show the key elements of the Hexham environment: wide Northumbrian skies; the high, rolling moorlands; planted forests, and the wooded valley of the Tyne; the town itself, dominated by the tower of the Abbey; Hexham people; and the River Tyne, beside which Hexham stands. Each section was appliquéd in hand-dyed cottons and overlaid with a variety of sheer fabrics, then machine embroidered. The human figures were painted on fabric and also machine embroidered.

Around this central scene are forty six-inch-square panels. Twenty frame circular images from Hexham life or history, each one matched in subject and colouring to the nearest section of the centre. Each maker designed her own image following initial guidelines, using hand-dyed fabric. The intervening diamonds were quilted, their designs based on those of the carved stones in the Abbey with colours again matched to the centre. Each circle and diamond was mounted on a blue and green canvas work square.

Since its consecration, the hanging has left the Abbey only for occasional exhibitions. It was also widely seen on the BBC ‘Songs of Praise’. Though intended primarily for the Millennium Year, it seems to have settled into a semi-permanent home. Such a hanging must inevitably age with the years: it will slowly lose some of its rich colours, while fabric and stitching may start to disintegrate as thousands of curious fingers are tempted to enjoy the texture. But we hope that it will for many years yet continue to celebrate the church and the two-thousand-year-old faith at the heart of Hexham.

Contributors to the Millennium Banner
Sue ArmourRene BaillieRosalind BarkerSheila Bell
Jean BennBeth BrowellEdith ByronMargaret Campbell
Sylvia ColesSheila CorfeCarol EdwardsEdna Gillies
Helen HancockJulie HarrisonMargaret HeatheringtonJoan Hobart
Dorothy HodgkinsonBetty HoggKathleen HorrocksMargaret Humphrey
Anne KinnimentSheilah KnophAlison LakerElsie Liddell
Anne LoweAnne MartinGill MetthamRosemary Newton
Mollie OliverJoyce PeacockM A PhillipsMaureen Price
Diana RobisonSheila RossMoira ShortChris Stubbs
Margaret TaylorJoan TrousdaleRos WhitehouseJenny Willis
Patricia WinskellGillian Woodward