So an old agnostic has been lining Anglican coffers Is that poetic justice

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A.� Yes - amusing, isn't it Monica Jones, mistress and muse of the late�Philip Larkin, has left �1 million to St Paul's Cathedral, Durham Cathedral and Hexham Abbey. Larkin, on reading the Bible, declared: 'It's absolutely bloody amazing to think that anyone could ever have believed that.' The poet bequeathed�Jones the bulk of his estate when he died in 1985.< xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

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Q.� So who was Ms Jones

A.� A university lecturer who was Larkin's lover for nearly 40 years. Their relationship blossomed after they met in 1947 at Leicester University, where Larkin worked in the library for a time and she was a lecturer. They later moved to Hull, where Larkin became the head librarian.

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Monica was the basis for�two characters in fiction: Margaret Peel in Lucky Jim -�a malicious portrait by Larkin's close friend, Kingsley Amis; and in Malcolm Bradbury's Eating People Is Wrong, which is set in Leicester. She died in February 2001.

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Q.� Was she a churchy type

A.� Apparently not. Friends who spoke about Jones after her death painted a picture of an outstanding teacher and an interesting woman; but there was nothing to suggest religion. A spokesman for St Paul's said: 'We have been looking through our records and can't find any direct connection with Mrs Jones, so I assume she was just an admirer of St Paul's.' She did, however, leave money to the National Trust - and Larkin would have approved of that.

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Q.� Larkin's agnosticism was well known

Philip Larkin with Sir John Betjeman

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Back at the door;
I find the book, donate an Irish sixpence,
Reflect the place was not worth stopping for.

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And in his last major poem, Aubade (1977), Larkin described religion as:

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That vast moth-eaten musical brocade
Created to pretend we never die.

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He did, however, enjoy the tradition and beauty of the church. Towards the end of his life, he bought an expensive Bible and read it daily while shaving. It was then that he observed: 'It's absolutely bloody amazing to think that anyone ever believed any of that. Really, it's absolute balls.' Then he added: 'Beautiful, of course. But balls.'

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Q.� So Larkin never married

A.� No - but he had many girlfriends, with Jones the most significant. She moved into in his unprepossessing house in Hull in the last year of his life. He had lived there 10 years and did nothing but moan about it, fretting about the central heating or the garden. Larkin left the house to Jones and she lived there until her death, surrounded by his personal possessions.

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Q.� Anything interesting

A.� Shaving brushes and handmade shoes (he had big feet and couldn't buy off the shelf).

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Q.� No - I mean anything literary

A.� Out of luck there. Jones, who was left most of Larkin's estate, ordered 30 volumes of his private diaries and papers to be burned. Other papers and writings have been left to Oxford University's Bodleian library and are to be made public.

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by Steve Cunningham