MISCELLANEOUS
Museum sign
The Cowper and Newton Museum
The Alcove

The Alcove as it looks today

The Alcove, erected by the Throckmorton family in 1753, is sited on a hill above Weston Underwood and is accessible to the public today.
The building commands an excellent view of Buckinghamshire countryside, sweeping down over fields to the distant rooftops of Olney and the spire of the church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul.

The structure formed an integral part of Cowper's mental and physical landscape. It was a retreat, away from the bustle of the busy market town and a symbol of the removed speculation to which the poet was prone. He often walked on the Throckmorton estate and rested at The Alcove, where he wrote some of his most famous poetry.

A tablet on the wall of The Alcove bears the inscription below, taken from 'The Task':

The summit gained. Behold the proud alcove
That crowns it! Yet not all pride secures
The grand retreat from injuries impress'd
By rural carvers, who with knives deface
The panels, leaving an obscure rude name,
In characters uncouth, and spelt amiss,
So strong the zeal t'immortalize himself
Beats in the breast of man, that ev'n a few
Few transient years, won from the abyss abhorr'd
And even to a clown. Now roves the eye;
And posted on this speculative height,
Exults in its command.
A Museum model of The Alcove
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