The volunteer embroidery team at Winchester Cathedral is part of a major project sponsored by the Worshipful Company of Upholders, a City of London Livery Company which dates back to 1360, as they help produce a textile masterpiece using traditional craft techniques last used on this scale in the 12th and 13th Centuries.
The Circle of Life will be 2.3 metres in diameter, making it the most significant piece of Opus Anglicanum embroidery produced since Medieval times. The project is designed by internationally known iconographer Aidan Hart.
The ancient craft techniques used represent the pinnacle of hand-stitched craft. The project is fully supported by the Royal School of Needlework, which has provided the broderers with mentoring, training and all materials.
Production of the artwork began in April this year and will be completed by April 2026, before being unveiled in July next year. Once assembled, the finished work will be displayed at the Guildhall in the City of London as part of celebrations to mark the 400th anniversary of the grant of the Livery Company’s Royal Charter. It will then be exhibited in the participating cathedrals.
Speaking for Winchester Cathedral, Anna Diamond, head of the Broderers team at Winchester Cathedral and team leader for the project said: “We are delighted to be part of this important national initiative, helping to create a historically significant masterpiece.”
Seven of the 10 regular broderer volunteers at Winchester Cathedral are working on the Circle of Life project. Each cathedral is producing a stitched image of their own cathedral and an additional panel, one of 12 scenes from the Upholders history. Winchester’s panel is of the frippery or second-hand clothing store.
The other cathedrals taking part in the Circle of Life project are Derby, Durham, Exeter, Lichfield, Lincoln, Liverpool, Norwich, St Alban’s, St Paul’s, Salisbury and Southwell.
Also taking part is a team from Fine Cell Work, a charity that rebuilds the lives of prisoners through needlework. A display from Fine Cell Work, of a stitched replica of a prison cell, was displayed in the Lady Chapel at Winchester Cathedral as part of its Law Week in 2024.
Other ongoing projects for the Winchester broderers include restoration of a cope first worn by the Bishop of Winchester in 1937 at the coronation of George VI, and the creation of a Dorsal for an area behind the high altar.
The Winchester volunteer team of broderers have been meeting once a week since 2010 to repair and create new ecclesiastical textiles.
