Hereford: Stolen Cider Mill painting recovered after 31 years

Elizabeth Pimblett set up online search alerts for the missing painting

A Victorian oil painting stolen from a museum 31 years ago has been recovered and put back on display.

The Cider Mill, painted by Henry Bryan Zeigler, was bought by the Museum of Cider in Hereford in the 1980s, but was taken by a visitor in 1991.

The piece was recovered by police after being spotted on 20 May for sale on an auction site by the museum's director Elizabeth Pimblett.

She said it was "unbelievable" to get the artwork back.

She explained she had set up online search alerts for auctions involving the word "cider".

Then, after hundreds of notifications, she said: "There was this one email and I thought 'I really feel that I should open that one' and there was the image."

The painting was listed for auction, but with just two weeks before it went on sale, she said: "I just knew I had to get the police involved as soon as possible, because I couldn't risk it going."

The museum had all the documentation pertaining to the painting - originally purchased by the venue with the help of a grant from the Victoria and Albert Museum - and the piece was recovered in Gloucestershire and returned.

The Cider Mill by Henry Bryan Zeigler is now behind reinforced glass and covered with an alarm system

Ms Pimblett said the painting would need to be restored, because it appeared to have been out of its frame for a while.

But she said it was good to have it back on display because the "saddest thing" was that the painter "would have wanted it to be enjoyed and seen".

Police have been contacted for comment.