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12 unusual facts about John Betjeman


Church of St James, Cameley

These remained hidden behind whitewash until the 1960s leading John Betjeman to describe it as "Rip Van Winkle's Church".

Electric Palace Cinema, Harwich

Poet Laureate, Sir John Betjeman was Patron from 1975 until his death in 1984 whilst film historian, and lecturer on the art of cinema, John Huntley was Patron from 1985–2003.

Ewart Milne

This decided him to help in the British war effort and he returned to England with the help of John Betjeman (then working at the British embassy in Ireland).

Lady Elizabeth Cavendish

It is believed she introduced Princess Margaret to Antony Armstrong-Jones in 1951 and although she herself never married, Elizabeth Cavendish did form a close relationship with the writer and future Poet Laureate, John Betjeman that same year and was called by Betjeman's daughter, Candida, her father's 'beloved second wife'.

Letcombe Brook

The Letcombe Brook Charitable Trust was established as a memorial to the poet Sir John Betjeman, who lived in the area for many years.

Ninian Comper

From 1912 Ninian and Grace lived in London at The Priory, Beulah Hill, a house designed by Decimus Burton (1800–81), where he entertained friends such as John Betjeman.

St Botolph's Aldersgate

The plain exterior is in contrast to what John Betjeman called an "exalting" succession of features inside.

St Catherine's Church, Preston-next-Faversham

Sir John Betjeman in the Collins Pocket Guide to English Parish Churches has described St Catherine's as, "high and distinguished among the railways and breweries".

St David's Church, Exeter

The current building was completed in 1900 and was described by John Betjeman as "the finest example of Victorian church architecture in the south west".

St. Marys Chapel of Ease, Dublin

It was the favorite Church of infamous English Poet Sir John Betjeman and the Dubliner Austin Clarke.

Swindon Works

In the 1960s, Swindon Borough Council applied to demolish much of the village, but poet and railway enthusiast Sir John Betjeman led a successful campaign to preserve it.

The Adventures of Mr. Verdant Green

The poet John Betjeman reused these in his 1938 book on the university, An Oxford University Chest.


Hunstanton railway station

Opened in 1862, the station was the northern terminus of the King's Lynn to Hunstanton line immortalised by John Betjeman in the British Transport Film John Betjeman Goes By Train.

Leeds railway station

The building was lambasted in 1967 by poet John Betjeman who said it blocked all the light out of City Square, and was a testament to money with no architectural merit.

Royal Hospital for Neuro-disability

The RHN has always been helped and supported by high profile figures, including Florence Nightingale; author Charles Dickens; poet, John Betjeman; Thomas Hardy the poet and author; Otto Goldschmidt the pianist; and HM Queen Elizabeth II.

Skelton, York

It is mentioned by Nikolaus Pevsner in his 1966 The Buildings of England: Yorkshire North Riding, by John Betjeman in his 1958 English Parish Churches and by Simon Jenkins in his 1999 England's Thousand Best Churches.

Snettisham railway station

In 1962 the poet laureate John Betjeman visited Snettisham station as part of a 10 minute documentary film detailing the journey from King's Lynn to Hunstanton.