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Redruth Town Council

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Tregellas Tapestries

  
The Tregellas Foundation was established by Cornish Bard Rita Tregellas Pope to advance the knowledge and understanding of Cornwall's cultural heritage.  She planned to achieve this through recreation and education in arts, literature, music, history and other recognised areas of study relating to the region.  The first step was to display the history of Cornwall in the form of a tapestry.  This modern embroidery was conceived, designed and executed under Rita's direction.  She brought together a team comprising two designers, Joanna Tucker and Annie Corey, and a group of skilled spinners, dyers and embroiderers to create this unique record of Cornish history and culture from prehistoric to modern times.

It was completed in three years and comprises fifty-eight embroidered panels.  The story shows how the Cornish took their goods and skills across the world through the centuries.  Fact is interspersed with fiction, famous names interwoven with legend.  Cornwall's contribution to world progress is depicted in peace and war, in religion and folklore.  Miners, fishermen and farmers are remembered with pirates, priests and inventors in the Tregellas Tapestry.

Sample of the Tregellas Tapestries           Sample of the Tregellas Tapestries

The embroidered panels were framed in 2000 as advised by the Royal School of Needlework.  To mark the Millennium some panels were exhibited at different venues around the country, including Royston Museum, Hertfordshire, Helston, Marazion, Callington and at the Gorsedd in Falmouth.  The permanent display of the complete Tregellas Tapestry at Alma Place, Redruth is the first phase of the Redruth Education and Economic Arts Partnership.  This project has similar aims to those of Rita Tregellas Pope, and it is fitting that such a superb work of art is on display in the heart of Cornwall.