John Piper

Artist

A slate plaque in St Margaret's Church Westminster records the fact that John Piper designed the stained glass windows in eight bays of the south aisle, after the Victorian glass there was destroyed by blast during the Second World War. It reads:

The windows in this south wall designed by John Piper and executed by Patrick Reyntiens were dedicated by the Bishop of London on the 15th January 1967 to replace those destroyed by enemy action between 1940 and 1942.

The War Damage Commission gave some money to the church provided it was used for stained glass but extra money was needed so an appeal was launched in 1966. The plaques below the windows were lettered by David Dewey.

His life

John Egerton Christmas Piper (1903-1992) was a son of Charles Piper, solicitor, and his wife Mary (Mathews) and was educated at Epsom College. He then worked in his father's office and published some books of poems and studied art at Richmond. His first wife was Eileen Holding and they had their first exhibition of watercolours in 1931. They divorced and he married Myfanwy Evans. During the Second World War he received painting commissions from the War Artists' Advisory Committee and he recorded blitzed churches. He also had commissions from royalty, and painted country houses. His commissions for the ballet and the theatre stage included designs for Benjamin Britten operas.

He began collaborating in stained glass with Reyntiens in 1953, having been introduced by the poet John Betjeman. They created glass for Coventry cathedral, Eton College Chapel and the Roman Catholic Liverpool cathedral, and they were approached to fill the empty windows at St Margaret's. The artist's aim was to create a total impression of living radiance, in shades of silvery grey predominantly with splashes of pale greens, yellows and blues in varied density, to filter the daylight.

Windows were given in memory of Canon Carnegie and his wife Mary, Peter Kemp-Welch, Clarence Fletcher and Sir Richard Costain. It is said to be some of their finest work.

Piper was buried at Fawley in Buckinghamshire near his home.

Patrick Reyntiens was born in 1925 and educated at Ampleforth College. During the war he served in the Scots Guards, and married Anne Bruce. He served on the Westminster Abbey Advisory Panel, and died on 25th October 2021.