Bach manuscript among items worth more than £45m donated to UK museums

More than £45m worth of items, including a Bach manuscript and an LS Lowry painting, have been donated to British museums.

The new acquisitions will be allocated to attractions across the country, including the Middlesbrough Institute of Modern Art, Hillsborough Castle, and the University Of Swansea.

Some of the artefacts were received as part of the acceptance in lieu scheme, which allows for an inheritance tax bill to be paid by transferring important cultural, scientific or historic objects and archives to public museums, galleries, archives and libraries.

Study For Flaming June by Frederic, Lord Leighton is among the pieces donated (The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea Leighton House/PA). PA Media

The highlights included Johann Sebastian Bach’s Cantata Auf Christi Himmelfahrt Allein, a complete autograph manuscript score for the cantata Bach composed for Ascension Day. Only three Bach manuscripts were in Britain before its arrival at the Bodleian Library in Oxford.

LS Lowry’s painting River Scene, Sunderland, which shows the River Wear at Sunderland Docks, was also donated to Sunderland Museum And Winter Gardens, where it will remain permanently, while artist Bridget Riley’s Banner I work was allocated to the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge.

Further donations were made as part of the cultural gifts scheme, which enables UK taxpayers to donate important works of art and other heritage objects to public museums, galleries, libraries and archives to benefit the nation, with their owners receiving a tax reduction in return.

As part of the scheme, Leighton House in London received Frederic, Lord Leighton’s study for Flaming June – one of his best-known paintings, and the Ulster Museum in Belfast received the Lanto Synge collection of needlework featuring early English textiles and further pieces from abroad.

Arts minister Sir Chris Bryant said: “I am thrilled that this year alone, over £45m of unique cultural objects were allocated to UK museums and galleries so that artworks and objects can be preserved and enjoyed for many years to come.”

The gifts were revealed in the Cultural Gifts And Acceptance In Lieu Schemes’ Annual Report, which tracked the scheme between April 2023 and March 2024.