The Collections

The museum's collections fall broadly into two groups:

• Cowper and Newton: personal belongings of the two men and their circle, and items illustrating their lives, works and fame;
• Olney and surrounding villages: objects, documents, and images illustrating the history of the area and its main trades, especially lacemaking and the boot and shoe industry

You may search the collections either by theme or by object type. If, for example, you wish to view a selection of the portraits held by the museum, click on the relevant category below and a gallery of images will appear. Then, to find out more about a particular portrait, click on its image to call up an enlarged version, together with the text describing it.