Fourteen giant embroidered panels of the Book of Revelation are free to see at Hexham Abbey until 22 November, with evening talks on 6 and 13 November.

Fourteen embroidered panels telling the story of the Book of Revelation are standing in Hexham Abbey until Sunday 22 November, and it costs nothing to walk in and see them. The exhibition, Threads Through Revelation, is the work of the British textile artist Jacqui Parkinson, who spent three years and three months making it. It opened on 13 October, so there are a little under three weeks left.

Overview

  • What: Threads Through Revelation, 14 embroidered panels by Jacqui Parkinson
  • When: until Sunday 22 November 2026; the Abbey opens Monday to Saturday 10am to 4pm, Sunday 11.30am to 4pm
  • Where: Hexham Abbey, Beaumont Street, Hexham NE46 3NB
  • Cost: free; donations to the Abbey are welcome
  • Talks: Friday 6 and Friday 13 November, 6.30pm, pay as you feel
Two visitors with their backs to the camera look at a tall embroidered panel of a rainbow circle around a golden sun, with an eagle, a lion and an ox at its edges and stitched figures with raised arms below, under lights in a stone aisle of Hexham Abbey
Two visitors at the rainbow panel in Hexham Abbey. Photo: supplied by Hexham Abbey

What is in the panels

Parkinson works in silk, hand-dyed fabrics, metallic leathers, paint and dense stitching, and says she works on a scale suited to cathedrals and other large spaces. The photographs the Abbey sent show them hung on tall lit frames among its stone arches, large enough to tower over the people looking at them. One has a rainbow circling a golden sun. Another sets four galloping riders in red, black and white above a run of darker squares, including a black disc ringed with red. A third has a tree rising through a golden city under a blazing sun.

Revelation is the last book of the Bible. Parkinson’s own site describes visions that are by turns among the most visionary writing, the scariest and the most confusing, and says it is not surprising “that many people take a quick look at it and give up”. The Abbey says she was drawn to it in 2013 and set out not simply to illustrate the text but to make its message more accessible to people now. At the heart of her reading, it says, is hope: despite the struggles of the world, the book ends with restoration, renewal and “the triumph of good over evil”.

Two visitors look up at a large panel in grey, red and white showing four riders on galloping horses across the middle, with a scroll and red seals above and dark squares below, one holding a black disc ringed with red, under the arches of Hexham Abbey
Four galloping riders across the middle of one of the panels in Hexham Abbey. Photo: supplied by Hexham Abbey

The 14 panels are one part of a far larger piece of work. Threads Through the Bible has three series, Creation, Cross and Revelation, with 44 panels and more than 25 million stitches made over a decade. The Abbey calls it one of the largest textile undertakings by a single artist in modern times, and says Hexham is the northernmost venue to have hosted this exhibition so far. Parkinson talks about bringing the panels to the Abbey in an interview with Hexham TV on its Facebook page, the Abbey says. She was born in Manchester, lived in London until 2008, taught drama in Kingston and now lives in Devon. Her website says the storytelling and immense sets of that world can still be seen in her textiles.

You do not need to know your Bible

The Abbey is keen to say this is not only for churchgoers. “Visitors do not need any prior knowledge of the Bible to appreciate the exhibition,” its release says. “Whether drawn by an interest in art, embroidery, history, spirituality or simply the opportunity to experience something extraordinary, everyone is welcome.” It also calls the show “a particularly timely opportunity for reflection in an increasingly uncertain world”.

Visitors to earlier showings, quoted on Parkinson’s site, were struck the same way. “I have always avoided Revelation if I can, as I really don’t understand it, but now it has been brought to life and I may even go and read it!” one wrote. Another, who saw it at Wells Cathedral, said: “I spent ages looking at the different scenes, and found the experience deeply moving.”

A long row of large, brightly coloured embroidered panels on lit frames runs down one side of a cathedral aisle, with a few visitors standing further along
The panels in a line down a cathedral aisle at another venue on the tour, not Hexham Abbey. Photo: via Jacqui Parkinson's website

Two talks still to come

The Abbey is running three theology lectures alongside the exhibition. The first, by the Reverend Professor Jamie Davies of the University of Aberdeen, took place on 23 October. Both of the others start at 6.30pm, with doors at 6pm. Entry is pay as you feel at the door, at £3, £5, £8 or £10, and a glass of wine is included.

  • Friday 6 November: Seven Letters to the Churches, the Reverend Richard Steele. “Drawing on my background as an archaeologist before ordination, I’ll explore the historical and cultural world of these churches and share insights gained from visiting each of their ancient sites,” he says.
  • Friday 13 November: The Grand Arc of Revelation, the Reverend Tony Buglass, who will try to take the audience through the whole book. The Abbey calls it “a sketch-map for the whole book”.

Planning a visit

The Abbey says it is fully accessible apart from the Crypt, which has steep, deep steps. Dogs are not allowed in, except assistance dogs. Hexham train and bus stations are a short walk away, and there is public parking in the town. The gift shop and the café are open on the same days; the café closes at 3pm on Sundays. The last chance to see the panels is 4pm on Sunday 22 November. Questions go to the Abbey office on 01434 602031.

If you would like a guide in your ears, Parkinson has put a Threads Through Revelation audio guide on her website. Her shop sells a printed guide at £2, a set of 14 postcards at £8, the book at £25 and prints from £15. We have not confirmed which of these are on sale at the Abbey itself.

Hexham Abbey's poster for Threads Through Revelation, 13 October to 22 November 2026, open daily, beside a detail of the rainbow panel
Hexham Abbey's poster for the exhibition. Poster: supplied by Hexham Abbey

For more going on across the county this month, see what’s on in Northumberland.