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We invite you to spend a little time getting to know William Cowper and John Newton
We invite you learn a bit about two famous men who lived in Olney in the 18th century - the poet William Cowper and the evangelical cleric John Newton. Cowper lived in Orchard Side, now the home of the Museum.
Cowper was a literary superstar in his own lifetime - he wrote the popular poem 'John Gilpin' and the highly-praised 'The Task' among many others: Newton is perhaps more famous today - he wrote the words of the hymn 'Amazing Grace'.
But these were not just rural gentlemen of letters: Cowper was very well connected and known to be a suicidal manic depressive; Newton had been the captain of a slave ship before he became a cleric.
The Museum's web site, has a lot more information about Cowper and Newton and about the Museum itself, including its 18th century garden restoration project - Cowper was a gardener too!
