Had you heard of Cowper (pronounced Cooper) and Newton - I hadn't, but I had heard of Amazing Grace, by Newton, and God Moves In A Mysterious Way by William Cowper.
Newton
John Newton was a sailor and slave trader who got caught in a storm and converted to Christianity. (That's lucky. Be careful what you wish for. He might have promised to convert to bestiality, incest or folk dancing.) Joking apart, he was a good soul who campaigned against slave trading and advised and encouraged the even better known anti slave trade campaigner Wilberforce.
Cowper
Cowper, (1731-1800) a leading poet, fore-runner of the Romantics, and probably an influence on Wordsworth's Prelude, also wrote the comic ballad John Gilpin. He kept three hares 'which on winter evenings would play on the parlour carpet,' says the leaflet. He wrote, "I am monarch of all I survey" and "variety is the spice of life".
If you are looking for some variety, visit the museum and its shop.
Open Tues-Sat 10.30 am-4.30 from March 1-Dec 23. Open Bank hol Mondays and shrove Tues (pancake day). Closed good Friday.
Admission prices (from leaflet in Oct 2011) £4 adult, concessions £3.25. Children 5-16 £1. Under fives free. Garden only £1.50. School and group bookings. See website or phone museum for the latest prices.
Having driven around Milton Keynes looking in vain for sculptures of concrete cows, it's good to know that nearby one can find a museum of such wide interest: lace, songwriting, motivation, abolition of slavery, Christianity, history, humour and a garden with plant sales.
The Cowper and Newton Museum,
Orchard Side,
Market Place,
Olney,
Milton Keynes MK46 4AJ,
Bucks.
Tel/fax: 01234 711516.
More memorials to Cowper
Death and memorials[edit]
Stained-glass window in St Nicholas's Church, East Dereham
Cowper was seized with dropsy in the spring of 1800 and died. He is buried in the chapel of St Thomas of Canterbury, St Nicholas's Church in East Dereham, and a stained-glass window there commemorates his life.[2]
In St Peter's Church in Berkhamsted there are two windows in memory of Cowper: the east window by Clayton & Bell (1872) depicts Cowper at his writing desk accompanied by his pet hares, and bears the inscription "Salvation to the dying man, And to the rising God" (a line from Cowper's poem "The Saviour, what a noble flame"); and in the north aisle, an etched glass window is inscribed with lines from "Oh! for a closer walk with God" and "The Task". In the same church there is also a memorial tablet to the poet's mother, Ann Cowper.[15][16] Cowper is also commemorated (along with George Herbert) by another Clayton & Bell stained-glass window in St George's Chapel, Westminster Abbey.[17][18]
In 1823, Cowper's correspondence was published posthumously from the original letters in the possession of his kinsman John Johnson.[19][20]
Near the village of Weston Underwood, where Cowper once resided, is a folly named Cowper's Alcove. The folly was built by the Lord of the Manor of Weston House, a member of the Throckmorton family in 1753.[21] Cowper is known to visit here frequently for inspiration for his poetry. The alcove is mentioned in Cowper's "The Task".[22] The folly was dedicated to Cowper by the Buckinghamshire county council green belt estate, and a plaque with the verse from "The Task" referencing the alcove was installed.
Useful Websites:
The Heritage Lottery Fund contributes.
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