South East - Isle Of Wight

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OSBORNE

East Cowes,
Isle of Wight
PO32 6JX
t: 01983 200022
e: osborne.house@english-heritage.org.uk
w: www.english-heritage.org.uk/osborne

How did Queen Victoria relax with her family away from the public eye? How did the royal children entertain themselves in the long summer months? And how did the fleet of servants prepare food for the royal table? Come and find out and enjoy an intimate insight into Victoria’s life at her palatial seaside retreat. With magnificent gardens rolling away from the house and down to the beach, groups can take in the newly restored terrace. A calendar of events keeps the house and gardens alive with activity, from festively dressed rooms to summertime fetes.


  • Admire the opulent Royal Apartments and private family bedrooms within the mansion. See the twin desks where Queen Victoria and Prince Albert worked.
  • Explore the magnificently decorated Durbar Room. The furniture and artefacts reveal intricate details about entertainment at Osborne - from state banquets to family meals. Don’t miss the beautifully crafted Indian objects, which were sent to celebrate the Queen’s Jubilee.
  • In the recently opened lower terrace see the Andromeda fountain fire and take in the newly restored Shell Alcove, decorated with thousands of individual seashells.
  • See where the royal children ‘played house’ and tended their own gardens down at the Swiss Cottage. There’s a room dressed as it was on 11th July 1861, when the children prepared afternoon tea for their parents, not long before Prince Albert’s tragic death.
  • View the museum, full of strange objects and mementos from all over the Victorian world. Look out for the clothes worn by two Romanian orphans, rescued from a massacre by the Royal Navy and then brought up at Osborne.
  • Stroll in the pleasure gardens, alongside historic trees, and enjoy the Victorian Walled Garden much as the royal couple did.
  • Take a trip down to the royal family’s once jealously guarded private beach, with Victoria’s restored ‘bathing machine’. Relax in deckchairs and enjoy the Solent views with an ice-cream sundae.

 

TOP TIP

In summer, visit the house in the afternoon, or Fridays and weekends when it is less busy. In winter, book a guided tour and enjoy outdoor festive events.