Burne-Jones described the composition of the present scene as follows: "We have passed from out of Britain and are in the land of Sarras, the land of the soul, that is. And of all the hundred and fifty that went on the Quest, three only are chosen and may set foot on that shore, Bors, Percival and Galahad. Of these Bors and Percival may see the Graal afar off - three big angels bar their way and one holds the spear that bleeds; that is the spear that entered Christ's side, and it bleeds always. You know by its appearing that the Graal is near. And then comes Galahad who alone may see it - and to see it is death, for it is seeing the face of God."

The Attainment was the largest tapestry of the Holy Grail series and also the largest ever woven at the Merton Abbey Works. The first of the Stanmore Hall tapestries to be completed, it was exhibited at the Arts and Crafts Exhibition of 1893. In an interview for the Daily Chronicle at the time, Morris reported that "...It occupied three persons, as many as can comfortably sit across the warp, for two years. The people who made it, and this is by far the most interesting thing about it, are boys, at least they're grown up by this time, entirely trained in our own shop. It is really freehand work remember, not slavishly copying a pattern, like the basse lisse method and they came to us with no knowledge of drawing whatever and have learned every single thing they know under our training. And most beautifully they have done it! Our superintendent Mr. Dearle has of course been closely watching the work all the time and has perhaps put in a few bits, like the hand and the faces, with his own hands; but with this exception every bit has been done by these boys".

In the Stanmore Hall original, the tapestry had to fit round a door in the wall on which it hung, resulting in a 'cut-out' shape in the lower portion on the chapel at the far right. This was understandably corrected with the design completed with steps and flowers for the present McCulloch weaving