§ Mr. Newensasked the Minister of Public Building and Works, if he will make a statement on the possibility of Government assistance to the Tower of London Armouries towards the purchase 133W of items from the Ockwells collection of armour.
§ Mr. C. PannellArmour from Sir Edward Barry's collection at Ockwells was sold by auction on 5th July. The Tower Armouries, which contain the national collection of arms and armour, wished to buy some important pieces of the 14th-16th centuries in order to fill gaps in the collection. I therefore authorised, subject to the approval of Parliament, a special grant of £8,000, and the National Art Collections Fund made a generous contribution of £1,000: the Master of the Armouries was thus able to buy the pieces he wanted. The money is being advanced from the Civil Contingencies Fund until a Supplementary Estimate can be presented.