13/10/2026
A friendship, a remarkable book and a vanished house
What can a 200-year-old book tell us about a building that no longer exists?
When William Cowper moved to Weston Underwood in 1786, he became acquainted with a talented young artist, John Higgins (1768–1846).
Cowper referred to Higgins as the “Weston artist”, and Higgins even made a silhouette of the poet in 1791.
After Cowper's death, Higgins acquired a first edition of William Hayley's Life of Cowper, published in 1803–1804, and made it uniquely his own.
He added six original pen-and-ink drawings: one of Cowper's home, the Lodge, and five views of the Old Hall at Weston Underwood, home of the Throckmorton family.
The Old Hall was demolished during the nineteenth century, making Higgins's drawings a valuable record of a lost building.
📖 You can now see this remarkable book in our Treasures from the Museum Library exhibition.
🖼️ We've also recently hung four framed prints showing different views of the Old Hall, giving visitors another opportunity to discover this fascinating piece of local history.
Did you know that Weston Underwood once had such a grand house?
📍 Cowper & Newton Museum, Olney
