Bespoke Spanish Knot Carpet
for the Bedchamber of Edward 1
in the Tower of London

The interior of the Medieval Palace, including the bedchamber of Edward 1 (1272-1307 A.D.) at the Tower of London is being restored. Since written records show that his wife, Eleanor of Castile, brought carpets with her from Spain, a Spanish knotted rug by the bed is part of the scheme.

The brief was to produce a rug with the authentic Spanish knot in which the mainfield was to take its inspiration from a Star Ushak in the Textile Museum's collection and the border was to be kufic in the manner of the Alfombra carpet in the Berlin Museum. The colours were to be fresh and bright as they would have been in Edward's time.

This page briefly documents the making of this carpet. A factsheet of the academic background of the Tower of London Restoration Project can be downloaded from the Royal Historic Palaces website.

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In the Textile Museum's
Catalogue of Spanish Rugs, Louisa Bellinger describes it thus:

• the warp yarns "lie on one level,
• the knots are tied on alternate warps in alternate rows, and
• there is one shoot of weft after each row of knots."

TRADITIONAL NATURAL
DYEING RECIPES
Yellow with Tesu
Brown with Walnut
Rust with Henna

Back of Spanish Weave

Back of Turkish weave with
alternate warps fully doubled under