A day out in and around Olney

The market town of Olney and nearby village of Weston Underwood are only a mile and a half apart, linked by a particularly beautiful stretch of the Ouse valley. This was the favourite walk of William Cowper and Mary Unwin, and may still be traced today. Its highlights were described in a charming memoir and guidebook for admirers of Cowper, published shortly after his death and entitled Cowper, Illustrated by a Series of Views, 1803; and later by Thomas Wright, the founder of the museum, in his book The Loved Haunts of Cowper, 1894.

If you are planning to spend a whole - or even half - day in Olney, you could set aside an hour or two to visit the main points of interest connected with Cowper and Newton. Here is a suggested itinerary:
(for a map click here to go to GoogleMaps)

Starting from the museum, turn left and make your way round to the Vicarage and then to the parish church of St Peter and St Paul. The Vicarage was occupied by John Newton as Curate from 1764 until 1780, when he moved to London, becoming Rector of St Mary Woolnoth. A dormer window at top right belongs to the study where he wrote Amazing Grace. The church contains Newton's pulpit, and fine stained glass windows commemorating Cowper and Newton. In the churchyard, on the south side of the church, you will find the grave of Newton and his wife Mary, with an interesting inscription describing himself as 'once an infidel and libertine, a servant of slaves in Africa...'.

From the church, retrace your steps and take the road to Weston Underwood. As it leaves the town of Olney, it rises to a considerable height, giving fine views of the valley. In Book I of The Task Cowper gives a detailed description of this walk:

Here Ouse, slow winding through a level plain
Of spacious meads with cattle sprinkled o'er,
Conducts the eye along his sinuous course
Delighted...
While far beyond and overthwart the stream
That as with molten glass inlays the vale,
The sloping land recedes into the clouds.

You enter the village of Weston Underwood between a pair of handsome gate pillars. In Cowper's time the village and surrounding estate were owned by a prominent Roman Catholic family, the Throckmortons, with whom he and Mary Unwin became close friends. The main house was pulled down in the 19th century, but some idea of its scale may be imagined from the impressive stable block which remains on the left. The land to the right was laid out by the Throckmortons as a park and wilderness, to which Cowper and Mary had the key, and where they would walk and picnic with members of the family.

All that remains of the park is the Alcove, placed at the highest point of the Throckmortons' estate to take advantage of extensive views across the valley to Emberton and back to Olney. This was the climax of Cowper's walk:

The summit gained, behold the proud alcove
That crowns it!...Now roves the eye,
And posted on this speculative height,
Exults in its command.

To reach it, take the first turn right in the village and follow a lane which climbs the hill, giving tantalising glimpses of the Alcove through gaps in the hedge, before it bears sharp right at the top and brings you to the gate giving access to it.

Returning to the village, walk along the main street past the 'Cowper's Oak' pub, until you reach a house on the right called 'Cowper's Lodge'. This was the house where Cowper and Mrs Unwin lived after leaving Orchard Side. The Lodge provided much better accommodation than the house in Olney, and was offered to them by the Throckmortons. They moved in 1786. Here Cowper translated the Iliad and Odyssey of Homer, and enjoyed the congenial surroundings, but he and Mary were increasingly dogged by ill health and eventually moved to Norfolk to be under the care of his devoted young cousin Rev. John Johnson. There is a shutter from The Lodge in the museum, on which Cowper has pencilled the following couplet expressing his sadness at leaving:

Farewell, dear scenes, for ever closed to me!
Oh, for what sorrows must I now exchange ye!

You may now return to Olney for further exploration of its many other historic attractions, to browse in its shops, or to seek refreshment in one of its wide range of pubs, cafes and restaurants.