Welcome to the first scene of Royston Tapestry. 
We love dinosaurs! What amazing, mind boggling, huge, colourful, feathery creatures! It’s no wonder young children (and adults) are enthralled by them. And one time, long ago, dinosaurs walked the along the land where we now live! Right now, you could be sitting on a spot once sat on by an iguanodon (one that was found in the South East of England is on display in Cambridge).
Around 66 million years ago over half of all animals and plants died out. Most agree that this happened after an asteroid hit the Earth which led to temperatures rising. This was too much to handle for the dinosaurs. Those that did cope with the heat then faced a lack of food as other animals and plants died.
This is when being small came in handy. Small mammals were able to hide from the worse affects of the asteroid. They could also eat the insects or small plant life that had survived. Some scientists believe that it took millions of years for the rest of plant life to get back to normal.
It could be that this asteroid is the reason we’re here today. The death of the dinosaurs gave mammals a chance to step forward.
The Royston Tapestry brings these creatures to life through the use of bright colours. Just one coral shows the skill of the stitching as well as the stitcher’s eye for blending colours.
It’s thanks to the asteroid that killed the dinosaurs, that this scene could be stitched at all!
