It is good to see a compromise emerging whereby the Lindisfarne Gospels, kept by the British Library, could go on permanent display in the north-east, almost five centuries after Henry VIII's men stole them from Durham Cathedral. So what about the Lewis chessmen? The British Museum has resisted the Scottish government's calls to return the chessmen, found on the isle of Lewis in 1831, to Scotland. This is a difficult issue: Scotland, which has items from all over the world in its museums, would suffer from any general move towards repatriation. But it would be good to see the chessmen, 82 of which are in London and 11 in Edinburgh, united for at least part of the year.

brian.groom@ft.com