Local historian Mark Davies purchased the Looking for Alice sculpture by Caroline Ritson for £3,000.

The statue will be adopted by the Westgate shopping centre who will allow him to graze on the roof terrace, looking towards Christ Church College where Lewis Carroll wrote Alice in Wonderland.

Oxfordshire residents, Claire and Pete Redfern bought five of the sculptures.

Mrs Redfern said: “My dad had less than eight weeks from diagnosis to passing away.

“His last day or two were spent in a hospice at home in Scotland but it doesn’t matter where, the point still stands, a hospice gave my dad and my family some incredibly precious and peaceful time.”

The “Moo-seum” created by the The Story Museum, consisting of six mini oxen, was sold for £1,300.