Last Invasion tapestry, Fishguard

button-theme-textile button-theme-women

link_to_welsh_translationlink_to_french_translation

The last time anyone invaded Great Britain was in 1797, when French soldiers landed at Llanwnda, about 5km west of Fishguard. The story is related in a tapestry, 30 metres long, made by local women in 1997.

The tapestry’s displayed in a purpose-built gallery attached to Fishguard library and town hall. It copies the shape and format of the Bayeux tapestry, which documented the Norman invasion of England in 1066. The Fishguard tapestry took 80 women four years to design and stitch. It involved crewel wools in 178 colours.

The tapestry was designed by Elizabeth Cramp, an artist from Sussex who moved to Pembrokeshire c.1960. She died in 2010.

One element of the invasion story concerns the actions of local women, who were dressed in traditional red overgarments. The French, watching from a distance, reputedly mistook them for soldiers. Jemima Nicholas, a cobbler’s wife, arrested 12 French soldiers although her only weapon was a pitchfork.

She remains a folk heroine, and in February 2024 a purple plaque was unveiled at Fishguard town hall in her honour. Melin Tregwynt, near Fishguard, makes a fabric named Jemima in her honour, and the Glamorgan Brewing Company produces a golden ale named Jemima’s Pitchfork.

It’s said that the French surrender document was signed in the Royal Oak, across the road from where the tapestry is displayed.

Postcode: SA65 9HA    View Location Map

More on the tapestry - Cultural Services Pembokeshire website

Website of Purple Plaques – celebrating remarkable women in Wales