St Michael’s School
St Michael’s School was situated on the outskirts of Cirencester and under the care of the Anglican Sisters of the Holy and Undivided Trinity, Oxford, providing education for girls aged 9 to 18, but appears no longer to exist.
Figure of Female Saint – Photograph (PWDRO 116/95); date unknown
This statue of an unknown female saint was made for St Michael’s School.
Source
PWDRO 116/95 Photograph. Cirencester St Michael’s School. Figure of Female Saint.
St John the Baptist
Hanging Cross – Photograph (PWDRO 244/4); 1906
An unannotated photograph in PWDRO 244/4 shows an ornate cross featuring the Lamb of God in the centre and the symbols of the Evangelists on the four arms. In the album presented to Hubert Minchinton by Violet Pinwill on his retirement is an identical photograph entitled ‘Hanging Cross for Cirencester’. It was presumed initially to be destined for St Michael’s School, Cirencester, along with the figure of a female saint described above.
In October 2022, Amanda Noble visited Cirencester parish church, St John the Baptist, and reported that the large, highly carved and gilded Hanging Cross above the chancel screen was mentioned in the church guide as being ‘carved in 1906 by 28 year old Ruth Pinwill’. Photographs of it confirmed it to be the one depicted in the archive. This discovery revealed for the first the time that Ruth, the youngest of the seven Pinwill sisters, produced work for the wood carving business, although she was not a full-time member of the company.
Source
PWDRO 244/4 Photograph Album. Various. Woodcarvings.