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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;the blacksmith, post: 9470993, member: 20148&quot;]One only has to look back to the Hever Castle sale back in the 1980&#039;s. </p><p><br /></p><p>The asking price for the nation was £13m, but , that included everything in it! The government wouldn&#039;t buy it, and the resulting auctions meant that the very fine armours in the top gallery were dispersed all around the globe! </p><p>One very fine armour went to an American collector, a member of a very wealthy family, and that armour alone was over £2.5m. A further helmet went to the same buyer for about £1.5m. </p><p>One armour belonged to the Earl of Southampton, who was a friend of Shakespeare, and was the only patron that Shakespeare named. The armour, of extreme importance was sold to a foreign buyer. Due to its importance it was the subject of an appeal, for which an export license was refused while funds were raised. Not enough was raised, and a second export license was also denied while a second attempt to raise the funds commenced. Eventually, the original buyer very generously donated the £60.000 difference, and the armour is today thankfully in the Royal Armouries. My personal contributions helped to purchase this armour.........................perhaps one rivet of it!<img src="styles/default/xenforo/smilies/rolleyes.png" class="mceSmilie" alt=":rolleyes:" unselectable="on" /></p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]443143[/ATTACH] </p><p><br /></p><p>The Earl of Southampton&#039;s armour, probably French, ca. 1600.</p><p><br /></p><p>The collection also included a few personal itmes that belonged to Anne Boleyn.</p><p><br /></p><p>Fortunately, Littlecote House in Wiltshire, which is the only manor house of the period of the English Civil Wars to still retain its original armoury, was saved for the nation, but again, this was partly thanks to the generosity of the seller! Many of the items in this collection are unique, and have greatly help our knowledge, understanding and appreciation of armour of the period[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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