Top historian Niall Ferguson backs calls to save Sir Winston Churchill’s funeral barge as foreign buyers eye up the national treasure

• Owner Chris Ryland, 75, bought the 85ft vessel for £780,000 in 2006 
• On sale 18 months ago for £2million, recently knocking it down to £800,000 
• Fears it will be bought by international businessman and turned into party ship

An eminent historian has called for the barge which bore Sir Winston Churchill’s coffin along the Thames to be saved as foreign buyers eye up the national treasure.

Niall Ferguson, a Mail contributor, today joins former prime minister Boris Johnson and broadcaster Jonathan Dimbleby in urging a British buyer to come forward and save the Havengore.

Owner Chris Ryland, 75, bought the 85ft vessel for £780,000 in 2006 but put it on sale 18 months ago for £2million, recently knocking the price down to £800,000.

There are fears the barge could be bought by an international businessman and turned into a party ship.

In 1965, the Havengore carried the body of Sir Winston after a state funeral when London’s dockers lowered their cranes in respect.

In 1965, the Havengore carried the body of Sir Winston after a state funeral when London’s dockers lowered their cranes in respect

Niall Ferguson, a Mail contributor, today joins former prime minister Boris Johnson and broadcaster Jonathan Dimbleby in urging a British buyer to come forward and save the Havengore

Owner Chris Ryland, 75, bought the 85ft vessel for £780,000 in 2006 but put it on sale 18 months ago for £2million, recently knocking the price down to £800,000

Professor Ferguson said: ‘At a time when Churchill’s critics receive far too much airtime and column inches, I would welcome an effort to keep Havengore in this country.

‘Churchill was this country’s greatest leader. And Havengore symbolises the centrality of the River Thames to our national history.’

Conservative MP Tobias Ellwood, a former captain in the Royal Green Jackets, said: ‘This is absolutely part of our history and we should be able to celebrate it across the world but crucially from Britain.

‘We do need to be more robust in protecting what is important to us. This has heritage value and it would be a sad day if something as symbolic of our greatest prime minister were to depart our shores.’

Historian Hugo Vickers added that the funeral had been of huge importance to the nation.

The Mail’s Eden Confidential diary first raised the issue of the fate of the Havengore last year.

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