Diana Hall first started working with clay in 1979, when she established a hand-printed ceramic tile business in Sussex with Peggy Angus using designs from medieval tapestries. She was taught the fundamentals by Peggy Angus and a local potter, Chris Stevens, at the weekends; the weeks being taken up by her four children.
A series of small local commissions encouraged her to expand and hone her skills, and, by 1985, she had successfully diversified into making replica Medieval and Victorian inlaid tiles using traditional techniques.
Another early source of inspiration for Diana Hall was Prof. Bobby Baker who had made replica tiles for Winchester Cathedral and Wells Cathedral in the 1970s. Indeed, Peggy Angus herself studied under Prof. Barker at the Royal College of Art. Although Diana Hall has learnt a lot from her mentors, and read widely in an effort to perfect her techniques, the development of faithful reproductions of medieval tiles remains largely a process of trial and error, with the end results hugely influenced by the choice of clay, and the reaction of particular glazes to that clay. Some clays, for instance, fire much darker or make gloss glazes fire matt. Diana Hall has built up a library of success, and failures, in her workshop which now acts as a useful reference source.
Her commissions are principally ecclesiastical or from private individuals. They have included the manufacture of replica medieval inlaid tiles for the Retrochoir Pavement at Winchester Cathedral; Prior Crauden’s Chapel at Ely Cathedral; the Court House at Martock; conservation and replacement of tiles at St Nicholas church, Arundel; restoration of medieval inlaid figurative panels at Chertsey Abbey; and a new floor for the Herbalist Room at Wenlock Priory.
Replica Victorian encaustic tiles have been produced for the Law Courts at the Aldwych and, more recently, Diana Hall has re-made some 19th century architectural terracotta pieces for the roof of St Stephens and All Martyrs at Leverbridge, Bolton.
While restoration projects provide the bulk of her work, Diana Hall has also won some interesting new commissions, from a hall for a vintner, to a walled garden in Hampshire; the latter designed using sacred geometry and incorporating the signs of the Zodiac.
One project of which Diana Hall is particularly proud is a replica fourteenth century Penn tile, commissioned by Susan Andrews, Yelverton, Devon, depicting the three hares design from Long Crendon Church, Buckinghamshire.
Free and no booking necessary – but donations welcome!
