Miss A F Hall Gallery

The Watercolours of Miss A.F. Hall (1868-1966)

Agneta Frances Hall, known locally as 'Miss Hall', lived most of her long life in South Cerney's Edwards College, arriving from Coln St Dennis when she was just six years old following the death of her father, the village rector.

It's not known when her painting talent first emerged - perhaps at the village school - but it proved itself sufficiently for Agneta to win a scholarship to the Royal College of Art in London. Her subsequent early career remains a mystery but, when she was around 39 years old, she appears in a 1907 photograph of the teaching staff and girl pupils of Cirencester Grammar School. She was appointed Senior Assistant Mistress there in 1915.

These examples of her watercolours date from the first half of the last century and capture delightful views from around South Cerney. Many were presented to neighbours and friends as wedding or anniversary gifts and often record village scenes now long since altered.

Retired by 1939, Agneta carried on with her teaching at All Hallows Church Sunday School hosting a Christmas Party each year at her home in the College. She continued to paint too, often exhibiting her work in annual sales for the benefit of Anglican missionary societies. The last such 'Miss Hall's Sale' was held in 1966, the year she died, having been held 'in great affection by a great number of people in the village and surrounding district'.

The search for more works of art by Miss Hall continues...more details here.

As a direct result of making this gallery available online, a further seventeen watercolours by Miss Hall, many of subjects beyond South Cerney, have recently been discovered. They are yet to be fully catalogued, but in the meantime, we are pleased to be able to reproduce them here.

The Trust would like to thank:

Martin Stephens, for suggesting this gallery and for sorting the photographs.

Alan Gaunt, for biographical research.

All those who responded to Trust appeals for information and recollections and, not least, for the loan of their Hall pictures.

Scenes of South Cerney