John Piper, C.H. (1903-1992)

By the age of fourteen Piper had looked at every church in his home county of Surrey, sparking a lifelong fascination with ecclesiastical architecture (see R. Ingrams & J. Piper, Piper's Places, London, 1983, p. 14). Piper's interest in church buildings was furthered by his friendship with the poet, John Betjeman, whom he met in 1937. The two men travelled through England and Wales visiting a large number of churches together, and Piper went on to illustrate Betjeman's Poems in the Porch (1954), Collins Guide to English Parish Churches (1958) and Church Poems (1981).

The present work shows St George's Church in Ruishton, Somerset.