In the floor of the north transept (hidden under a panel of carpet) is a memorial slab recording the death of of Catherine Donne and her daughter Anne Cowper. Catherine was related to the 16th-century poet and divine John Donne and was the grandmother of the 18th-century poet William Cowper. Her daughter, Ann, gave birth to William in 1731, but died only six years later in 1737. She was the wife of the Revd John Cowper, Rector of St Peter’s from 1722 to 1756. Sadly, six of their other children died in infancy and were also buried here, along with their mother.
This rather poignant tombstone connects us to Berkhamsted’s literary heritage, as we discover links not only with Cowper, but with a long English tradition of divine poetry writing.
