The Swiss Cottage Museum in the grounds of Osborne, at East Cowes on the Isle of Wight, was constructed in 1862 to house the many items collected by the royal children that could no longer be properly displayed in the Swiss Cottage itself. The Queen had written in her journal on 11 July 1862, "Have decided to give the Children an additional small cottage, near the Swiss Cottage, of only one storey, for a Museum, as the room used for the collection, ever increasing, no longer can hold the things."
The museum, similar in style to the Swiss Cottage itself, is made of timber but with a slate roof. It has the original cases, though the gold lettering on them was added later. As well as specimens from the grounds and beach at Osborne, stuffed birds and so on, there are all sorts of curiosities from foreign travels, especially the two elder sons' travels. One star attraction is a stuffed deer with a fifth (rather rudimentary?) leg.
Text and photographs by Jacqueline Banerjee. Special thanks to English Heritage for permitting photography at Osborne, and for allowing the photographs to be shared on a non-commercial basis. You may use these images without prior permission for any scholarly or educational purpose as long as you (1) credit the photographer and (2) link your document to this URL or cite it in a print document. [Click on all the images to enlarge them.]
Related Material
- Osborne, Isle of Wight: Exterior
- Osborne: Terraces and Grounds
- The walled garden at Osborne
- The Swiss Cottage at Osborne
- The thatched summer house at Osborne
- The royal children's Victoria Fort and Albert Barracks at Osborne
Bibliography
Queen Victoria's Journals. Web. 16 September 2017.
Turner, Michael. Osborne. Rev. reprint. London: English Heritage, 2016.
Created 16 September 2017