 He was made a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries in 1956.Spittle was an important collector of art with an extensive collection including 25 Illuminated Manuscripts; these manuscripts originally belonged to Sir Thomas Watson, and when Watson died in 1921 he left 25 volumes, which eventually ended up in the hands of Spittle.Shortly before his own death in 2003 Spittle helped devise the (2007) exhibition at the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, entitled Private Pleasures