Campaign to return bible to Salisbury receives £10k gift

A campaign to return a 13th-century copy of the Bible to its ancestral home in Salisbury Cathedral has been hailed by the culture secretary as an example of our country at its best” as it received a 10,000 donation.

- HOLLY EVANS

The bible is one of only six manuscripts attributed to the Sarum Master, who was among the greatest artists of the medieval period. The campaign is aiming to raise £90,000 in 90 days to secure its return.

The £10,000 donation was gifted by the Old Possum’s Practical Trust, founded in 1990 by Valerie Eliot, the wife of TS Eliot, to promote literary and cultural initiatives through grants that honour the poet’s legacy.

Funded largely by proceeds from Cats, the trust has contributed to numerous projects over the years, continuing Eliot’s impact on literature and the arts.