Cowper and Newton Museum

William Cowper's house in Olney is where you'll find the poet and his mate John Newton, a former slave trader turned clergyman, both living out their days writing hymns and correspondence. It's a modest Georgian townhouse on the High Street - the kind of place that makes you realise how small people's worlds actually were back then, even famous ones. You wander through rooms where they actually sat, read their letters (some proper dramatic stuff), and see their belongings. The museum doesn't shout about itself, which is refreshing. It's lean and focused - perfect if you care about 18th-century literature or the whole slave trade redemption angle that Newton's life embodies. Cowper fans will find it unmissable. Everyone else might spend forty minutes here and feel they've got the gist. The town of Olney itself is worth a mooch around - proper picturesque riverside spot with good pubs. If you're camping at Ekeney House nearby, this pairs well with a walk along the Nene or visiting the local churches. Go on a quiet weekday if you can; it's the sort of place where the locals will actually talk to you about the history rather than just hand you a leaflet. Not wildly exciting if Georgian poets leave you cold, but genuinely moving if they don't.