The Hidden Gem of Olney

| The adorable 18th century town of Olney |

England Trip 2015

     While we stayed in Luton we took a day trip over to the quaint little town of Olney, known for its connection to John Newton (the writer of the hymn 'Amazing Grace') and William Cowper, one of Jane Austen's favorite poets. It is a pleasant, traditional little town that has everything within walking distance, including the church of John Newton, the Cowper Museum, many charming shops and a delicious tea room and deli. It's also set in the picturesque, peaceful English countryside of Buckinghamshire.

Amazing grace! how sweet the sound,
  That saved a wretch; like me!
I once was lost, but now am found,
  Was blind, but now I see.

John Newton 

Where Olney is located in relation to London.

     We parked for free on the high street, then walked the short distance across the town square (where sits the public parking lot) to the Cowper and Newton Museum. The town has a delightful 18th century feel to it, even to this day! Probably because so many of the buildings have been around since then (and, in my case, because William Cowper lived here in that same century). Yet at the same time it feels like a living, breathing town where people still live their daily lives. To me that is the ideal scenario. If a town can keep it's historical atmosphere while people enjoy and maintain it by way of living in it, then it's like the past and the present can survive at the same time! I think it's marvelous. And Olney is an excellent specimen of this very thing!

The handy parking spaces along the high street.

Olney town square (we parked down the street to the left, and the Cowper Museum is the larger brick building just to the right of the parking lot above).

The lovely facade of the Cowper & Newton Museum and Gardens

     The museum was closed by the time we arrived, but it is still worthwhile to take a look at the outside. This is the house where the poet William Cowper lived while he was staying in Olney and working with John Newton on their collection of hymns, so on display in the museum are possessions belonging to Cowper and Newton that give you some insight into the retiring yet important lives of these two religious and literary men of the 18th century.

     On a visit three years ago I was able to go inside and take the self-guided tour. You can go around the pleasant sunny little house, into the bedrooms, parlor, dining room, etc., and into the peaceful garden at the back – a place that would certainly inspire a poetic mind like William Cowper's. The garden has been reconstructed to look as it would have done while he lived there in the late 1700s, filled with flowers and shrubs, and containing a little pond and outbuilding where Cowper used to go when he wished to be alone and write.

Cowper's writing desk

God moves in a mysterious way
His wonders to perform;
He plants His footsteps in the sea
And rides upon the storm.

William Cowper

The lovely garden at the Cowper and Newton Museum

     After wishing we could go in the museum Mom and I wandered along to "Newton's Church" (a.k.a. St. Peter and St. Paul Church), a few blocks away. Just before you reach the church there is a small field with a couple of ponies grazing, so we had to stop and say hello. :)

     The church is left unlocked (most churches are in the English countryside – I'm not sure why, but I'm glad, since it's convenient for us!), so we took peek inside. It's still a working church, so there is a nursery set up, along with a little library and an interesting spread of postcards and flyers letting people know what ministries and events the congregation has going on. It's lovely getting to see a slice of real life! It is hard to imagine worshiping here every Sunday, in a place that has been around for centuries, and where John Newton actually used to preach. But this is England, and there are famous old things everywhere, so a person almost gets used to it. 

The impressive tower of St. Peter and St. Paul Church

Looking out at the congregation

Looking toward the choir and the pulpit.

     One of my favorite things in this place is the nursery – or rather what's in the nursery...

"Please mind your head on the pulpit."

     "Don't hit your head on John Newton's pulpit!" Now that's not something you hear in every church nursery. ;)

     We grabbed a few brochures, dropped some change in the box for our postcards and headed back out into the sunshine. It was a bit sunnier by then, which was nice for our walk around the churchyard. We went in search of John Newton's grave, of course, and then let ourselves think on the reality of death and the hope of heaven as we walked among the headstones, many of them over two centuries old and nearly impossible to read.

The Lord hath promised good to me,
  His word my hope secures;
He will my shield and portion be
  As long as life endures.

John Newton and his wife were buried together. (This is a new gravestone, by the way.)

Olney churchyard

When we’ve been there ten thousand years,
  Bright shining as the sun,
We’ve no less days to sing God’s praise
  Than when we first begun.

     It's sad to walk around so many gravestones and think about death, but at the same time it is amazing to think that the man who wrote these words has been singing God's praise in God's actual presence for more than two centuries! [Along with every other person in that churchyard (and everywhere else) who has believed in Jesus Christ and his amazing grace! :)]

     On our way to have a spot of tea we looked in a few shops – especially the charity shop, where the displays of Easter hats were most tempting. The town center and the high street have a good number of fun shops and boutiques to wander about in. The little deli is on one corner of the town square and the high street, and it's easy to spot with its green and white awnings.

     You can order at a counter surrounded by shelves lined with preserves and glass cases filled with desserts, cheese, pies and more, or you can sit down at one of the little tables in the next room for a cup of tea and some lunch. We chose the latter, since it's a very pleasant thing to do after you've been wandering around on your feet all day.

Mom with her slice of cake.

Me enjoying my large piece of sultana cake.

A look toward the entrance where you can also see some
of the many delicious treasures available to take home!

Part of the dining room and the pleasant view.

For lunch we each had a mini pork pie – an English classic. :)

     Mom had a nice chat with the lovely lady who served us tea – who also happened to have a daughter about my age – and then it was time to think of heading back to Luton. First we made a quick stop at a Tesco Express for some essentials (like strawberries, milk, chocolate...) and the post office for Mom to send some postcards. She is much more diligent in that endeavor than I am. I haven't sent a single one on the entire trip.

Some of the shops near the town center.

     After a short walk down the high street we found the Cowper Memorial sort of tucked back down a small path. It's a pretty little Victorian-looking building built in honor of William Cowper, once used as a center for some sort of charitable work in the town, and is now home to a church. Then it really was time to go, and we made it back to finish the day in the company of our dear friends.

So, for a relaxing day filled with history and pleasant places to walk or sit down to tea, I would recommend this little hidden gem!


© Anna Morton 2016