The Cowper & Newton Museum

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Title: View of Olney Church, viewed from Emberton

Dimensions: height 42 cm, width 54 cm
Date: before c.1800
Probably painted by James Andrews (1734-1817)
Watercolour on paper
Provenance: Gift of Henry Gough, 1910
Museum No. OLNCN.161

Tall spire, from which the sound of cheerful bells
Just undulates upon the listening ear

William Cowper, The Task

Reputed to have been built between 1325 and 1350, with some parts of the building possibly earlier. The church has eight bells, the oldest dating to 1532 and inscribed 'God Save the Queen'. The pulpit in the west end of the church was used by John Newton and was rescued from a prison yard.

Major renovation of the church took place in 1807 with the reconstruction of the north wall, and the porch and schoolroom above were also built at this time. Sir George Gilbert Scott oversaw restoration of the east window and in 1884 the top of the steeple was restored.