The Cowper & Newton Museum in Olney is set to receive a £10,000 grant to help deliver a major local heritage project.
The project is set to celebrate 250 years of the hymn 'Amazing Grace', which was written in Olney to accompany the New Year’s Day Sermon on 1 January 1773 at the church of St Peter & St Paul and is now known and sung worldwide.
The Cowper & Newton Museum will use the funding to collaborate with local partners on ‘Amazing Grace and its Legacies: reflections at 250’.
The museum, in Olney, exists to conserve, develop and maximise access to its buildings, collections and tranquil gardens, thereby promoting the public understanding and enjoyment of Cowper and Newton and some of the greatest stories of the 18th century.
The house, which opened as a Museum in 1900, is situated in Orchard Side House, the home of William Cowper from 1768 to 1786. Cowper was a renowned 18th century poet, and his house gives a glimpse into Georgian life in a rural market town.
The £10,000 will be used alongside £98,760 already received from The National Lottery Heritage Fund to produce the major project.
‘Amazing Grace and its Legacies: reflections at 250’ will take place over this year and next and events will include Olney and Milton Keynes based conversations, exhibitions, talks, walks, and cultural and community activities in collaboration with the Open University, the Friends of the Caribbean-MK, the Stables, the African Diaspora Federation–MK, Olney Town Council, the African and Caribbean Arts & Heritage Union-MK, the Sierra Leone Committee-MK and St Peter & St Paul Church, Olney.
New physical and digital displays will be created, and archive interviews will be conducted.
Cllr Robin Bradburn, Deputy Leader of MK Council and Cabinet Member with responsibility for Culture said: “We’re very pleased to be providing support for this local heritage project and to top up the funding from The National Lottery Heritage Fund so more can be achieved.
"The Council has worked with the Cowper & Newton Museum Trustees for many years and the work they do is an important part of our Creative and Cultural Strategy. We want to ensure the Museum’s significant heritage can reach and positively impact our residents, communities and visitors. I look forward to a some fascinating cultural activities over the next two years.”
To find out more about the Council-backed project and its successful grant from The National Lottery Heritage Fund, please click here.
