The Essex House Tapestries: The Life of Julie Cope

Julie Cope is a fictional character created by Grayson Perry – an Essex everywoman whose story he has told through the two tapestries and extended ballad presented in the exhibition. The Essex House Tapestries: The Life of Julie Cope (2015) illustrate the key events in the heroine’s journey from her birth during the Canvey Island floods of 1953 to her untimely death in a tragic accident on a Colchester street.

These artworks represent, in Perry’s words, ‘the trials, tribulations, celebrations and mistakes of an average life’. To write Julie’s biography, he looked to the English ballad and folktale tradition, narrating a life that conveys the beauty, vibrancy and contradictions of the ordinary individual.

Restoring pride in Croydon also means celebrating everything our borough has to offer. The Museum of Croydon will be hosting The Essex House Tapestries: The Life of Julie Cope by Turner Prize-winning artist Grayson Perry, from July to September. On loan from the Crafts Council, this is the first time that the tapestries have been on display in a London public museum, offering Croydon residents and visitors a fantastic opportunity to experience the work of one of Britain’s most celebrated contemporary artists.

Open 15 July - 19 September 2026. Free for Croydon residents.

Image: A Perfect Match, Grayson Perry, 2015. On loan from the Crafts Council Collection: 2016.18. Acquired with Art Fund support (with a contribution from The Wolfson Foundation) and a donation from Maylis and James Grand. Courtesy the artist, Paragon | Contemporary Editions Ltd and Victoria Miro. © Grayson Perry