Tour

Behind the Scenes: Furnishing Textiles for Royal Palaces

21 November 2025
10.30am-1pm
£15

Join us on one of our popular behind the scenes tours to discover how to decorate a royal palace.

Visit Braintree Museum for an introductory talk and refreshments, then see historic textiles up-close at the Warner Textile Archive that were supplied to the royal household, and learn more about the long association between Warner & Sons and palace refurbishments.

Warner & Sons can trace its connection to palace decoration from orders placed for silk furnishing fabric by Queen Victoria in 1887. Patterns still present in Buckingham Palace, Windsor Castle, and Balmoral date from this period and were reproduced for the royal residences for more than a hundred years by Warner & Sons.

Queen Elizabeth II was a prolific customer, often replacing existing designs supplied decades before, with the same fabric years later. King Charles III has inherited these sumptuous interiors and can already often be seen greeting important guests in rooms still displaying designs first introduced to the palaces by his great-great-great-grandmother, Queen Victoria.

This listing is supplied by one of our museum partners and is not moderated by Art Fund.

Get a National Art Pass and explore Warner Textile Archive

You'll see more art and your membership will help museums across the UK

IndividualTiana Clarke Please note this is an example card and not a reflection of the final product

Visitor information

Address

Warner Textile Archive

Warner Textile Archive, Silks Ways, Braintree, Essex, CM7 3GB
01376 316780

Opening times

Warner Textile Archive is open by appointment

Take a look at our website for further information or contact us to discuss a visit, call 01376 328868 or email museum.info@bdmt.org.uk

Highlights of this collection and the history of Warner & Sons are on display in the dedicated Warner & Sons Gallery at Braintree Museum.

Visitor information

IndividualTiana Clarke Please note this is an example card and not a reflection of the final product

The more you see, the more we do.

The National Art Pass lets you enjoy free entry to hundreds of museums, galleries and historic places across the UK, while raising money to support them.