Norman Colville

Captain Norman Robert Colville MC (11 September 1893 – 26 August 1974)[1] was a British Army officer and art collector.

He acquired Penheale Manor which he had extended by Sir Edwin Lutyens to form a house and gallery for his extensive art collection.

Colville held works by Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael and Fra Bartolomeo as well as a large collection of Near and Middle Eastern artefacts, including the Burney Relief.

[5] Colville served on the Western Front and, on 4 November 1915 received the Military Cross for "conspicuous gallantry and ability".

These were made on 7 August and 8 & 9 September 1915, in the lead up to the Battle of Loos and on 9 October in advance of the Actions of the Hohenzollern Redoubt.

On the latter occasion, though stunned by the near miss of a shell, he completed his reconnaissance, making a sketch showing the layout of the redoubt and its barbed wire.