Some history and background
Osbourne House on the north coast of the Isle of Wight was the summer home of queen Victoria and Prince Albert and where she spent much of the later years of her life.
After her marriage to Prince Albert in 1840, Queen Victoria felt the need for a family summer residence in the country, as an escape from the stresses of court life in London and Windsor.
Victoria had spent two holidays on the Isle of Wight as a child. The Osborne estate, then owned by Lady Isabella Blachford, was recommended to Victoria by the Prime Minister, Sir Robert Peel. When Victoria and Albert visited in 1844, Victoria was delighted as she could ‘walk anywhere without being followed or mobbed’. The sale was completed in 1845 for around £28,000. She enthused in her journal that it was ‘quite a paradise’, in particular the extensive grounds and the way the woodland met the beach. To make the estate self sufficient, the adjacent Barton Manor was bought to serve as the Home Farm
Victoria and Albert soon realised the house was too small for their rapidly growing family and large staff. The rooms were ‘small but very nice’ but it needed a ‘few alterations and additions for the children’.
Prince Albert was heavily involved in the plans, working with the notable London builder Thomas Cubitt. He was also involved in laying out the estate, gardens and woodlands. The terraces on the north east side of the Pavilion were designed to complement the house.
The family lived in the old house while a new house was built to replace it between 1845-51. This was in the the Italian Renaissance style, complete with two belvedere towers. Bricks were made on the estate and the outside was rendered in the local Medina cement, coloured to imitate Bath stone. This glows honey gold in the sunshine. Furnishings were paid for from the sale of the Royal Pavilion in Brighton and its contents.
The central Pavilion with the private family rooms and nursery was the first to be finished and the family moved in in September 1846. A porch cochere allowed visitors to alight from their carriage under cover before entering the house.
The basement housed the service rooms for the dining room above as well as boiler and coal cellars. The ground floor rooms were the public rooms with dining rooms, salon, drawing room and billiard room. A staircase led up to the private rooms on the first floor with Albert’s room on the right and Victoria’s on the left with a shared sitting room. The nurseries were on the second floor along with accommodation for nursery staff. The tall flag tower had an observation room reached by a spiral staircase. A large bay overlooked the garden at the rear.
The Pavilion was followed by the Household Wing with another square tower, in 1848. This provided accommodation for household staff. The old house was then demolished and the Main Wing was built on the site of the old house and connected to the Household Wing by a long corridor. This included the council and audience chambers, as well as bedrooms for visitors.
The Swiss Cottage was built in 1853-4 for the royal children. The wooden chalet was dismantled and brought from Switzerland to be reassembled here.
By 1860, new stables for fifty horses and carriages had been built with the former stables being used as kitchen facilities and servant quarters.
Following Albert’s death in 1861, Victoria increasingly withdrew from public life, spending her time in Windsor Castle, Osborne House or Balmoral.
The final addition to the house was the Durbar Wing added in 1890-1, to reflect Victoria’s new status as empress of India. Thomas Cubitt had died in 1855 and the general plan was devised by John Randall Mann who had trained with Cubitt and had been Surveyor of Works at Osborne since 1857. It was supervised by Lockwood Kipling (father of Rudyard Kipling) who had been director of the Mayo school of Art at Lahore and was keen to maintain the tradition of Indian craftsmanship , along with the the Sikh architect, Bhai Ram Singh.
With its mix of mixture of Mughal and Hindu architecture, it was used for state occasions.
Prince and Princess Henry of Battenberg and their family lived on the first floor on the first floor. Princes Henry (Beatrice) was Victoria’s youngest daughter and the Queen was very dependent upon her. She was only given permission to marry on the understanding she continued to live with Victoria.
Victoria also took on an increasing number of Indian servants who were housed in a specially built extension to the men servant’s block.
Victoria died at Osborne House in 1901.
Although Victoria wished for Osborne to be kept by the family, Edward VII and other members of the royal family didn’t want the responsibility for its upkeep. The land and outlying buildings were gradually sold off. Princess Beatrice and Princess Louise were granted houses on the estate.
Edward VII wanted the ‘people’ to have access to the house in memory of his mother. Part of the ground floor was opened to the public in 1904, free of charge. The royal apartments on the upper floors of the Pavilion were sealed off by iron gates and effectively became a private museum, accessible only to family.
With the rapid expansion of the navy, part of the estate became a Royal Naval College for a few years training officer cadets. Boys arrived at age 13 and stayed for two years before moving to the Royal Naval college in Dartmouth. There were 500 cadets by the time of the First World War with classrooms in the former stable block along with dormitories and officer accommodation. Both the future Edward VIII and his brother George VI attended as cadets.
After the war, cadet numbers fell and the college closed with cadets transferring to Dartmouth. Many of the buildings were demolished.
A convalescent home for Officers was opened in 1904 in part of the household and main wings. They were allowed exercise in the gardens and a pavilion was built on the beach. It later became a nursing home but this was closed in 2000 due to escalating costs.
Queen Elizabeth II gave permission for the iron gates to be unlocked in 1955 allowing the public to visit Victoria’s private rooms for the first time. In 1986, Osborne House was handed over to English Heritage who have carried out external repairs, restoration and internal decoration, gradually reopening more of the house. Albert’s plans for the gardens and estate are gradually being reinstated. Victoria’s private beach with its bathing machine was opened to the public in 2012.
The house is still very much the vision of Victoria and Albert with furniture and works of art reflecting their personal tastes. It was very much a family home. The grounds still reflect Albert’s initial planting schemes. After Prince Albert’s death, there was little change to the house apart from the building of the completely different Durbar wing.
I visited on mid March. Only the ground floor of the House was open and Swiss Cottage was also shut.
website
cont...
Osbourne House on the north coast of the Isle of Wight was the summer home of queen Victoria and Prince Albert and where she spent much of the later years of her life.
After her marriage to Prince Albert in 1840, Queen Victoria felt the need for a family summer residence in the country, as an escape from the stresses of court life in London and Windsor.
Victoria had spent two holidays on the Isle of Wight as a child. The Osborne estate, then owned by Lady Isabella Blachford, was recommended to Victoria by the Prime Minister, Sir Robert Peel. When Victoria and Albert visited in 1844, Victoria was delighted as she could ‘walk anywhere without being followed or mobbed’. The sale was completed in 1845 for around £28,000. She enthused in her journal that it was ‘quite a paradise’, in particular the extensive grounds and the way the woodland met the beach. To make the estate self sufficient, the adjacent Barton Manor was bought to serve as the Home Farm
Victoria and Albert soon realised the house was too small for their rapidly growing family and large staff. The rooms were ‘small but very nice’ but it needed a ‘few alterations and additions for the children’.
Prince Albert was heavily involved in the plans, working with the notable London builder Thomas Cubitt. He was also involved in laying out the estate, gardens and woodlands. The terraces on the north east side of the Pavilion were designed to complement the house.
The family lived in the old house while a new house was built to replace it between 1845-51. This was in the the Italian Renaissance style, complete with two belvedere towers. Bricks were made on the estate and the outside was rendered in the local Medina cement, coloured to imitate Bath stone. This glows honey gold in the sunshine. Furnishings were paid for from the sale of the Royal Pavilion in Brighton and its contents.
The central Pavilion with the private family rooms and nursery was the first to be finished and the family moved in in September 1846. A porch cochere allowed visitors to alight from their carriage under cover before entering the house.
The basement housed the service rooms for the dining room above as well as boiler and coal cellars. The ground floor rooms were the public rooms with dining rooms, salon, drawing room and billiard room. A staircase led up to the private rooms on the first floor with Albert’s room on the right and Victoria’s on the left with a shared sitting room. The nurseries were on the second floor along with accommodation for nursery staff. The tall flag tower had an observation room reached by a spiral staircase. A large bay overlooked the garden at the rear.
The Pavilion was followed by the Household Wing with another square tower, in 1848. This provided accommodation for household staff. The old house was then demolished and the Main Wing was built on the site of the old house and connected to the Household Wing by a long corridor. This included the council and audience chambers, as well as bedrooms for visitors.
The Swiss Cottage was built in 1853-4 for the royal children. The wooden chalet was dismantled and brought from Switzerland to be reassembled here.
By 1860, new stables for fifty horses and carriages had been built with the former stables being used as kitchen facilities and servant quarters.
Following Albert’s death in 1861, Victoria increasingly withdrew from public life, spending her time in Windsor Castle, Osborne House or Balmoral.
The final addition to the house was the Durbar Wing added in 1890-1, to reflect Victoria’s new status as empress of India. Thomas Cubitt had died in 1855 and the general plan was devised by John Randall Mann who had trained with Cubitt and had been Surveyor of Works at Osborne since 1857. It was supervised by Lockwood Kipling (father of Rudyard Kipling) who had been director of the Mayo school of Art at Lahore and was keen to maintain the tradition of Indian craftsmanship , along with the the Sikh architect, Bhai Ram Singh.
With its mix of mixture of Mughal and Hindu architecture, it was used for state occasions.
Prince and Princess Henry of Battenberg and their family lived on the first floor on the first floor. Princes Henry (Beatrice) was Victoria’s youngest daughter and the Queen was very dependent upon her. She was only given permission to marry on the understanding she continued to live with Victoria.
Victoria also took on an increasing number of Indian servants who were housed in a specially built extension to the men servant’s block.
Victoria died at Osborne House in 1901.
Although Victoria wished for Osborne to be kept by the family, Edward VII and other members of the royal family didn’t want the responsibility for its upkeep. The land and outlying buildings were gradually sold off. Princess Beatrice and Princess Louise were granted houses on the estate.
Edward VII wanted the ‘people’ to have access to the house in memory of his mother. Part of the ground floor was opened to the public in 1904, free of charge. The royal apartments on the upper floors of the Pavilion were sealed off by iron gates and effectively became a private museum, accessible only to family.
With the rapid expansion of the navy, part of the estate became a Royal Naval College for a few years training officer cadets. Boys arrived at age 13 and stayed for two years before moving to the Royal Naval college in Dartmouth. There were 500 cadets by the time of the First World War with classrooms in the former stable block along with dormitories and officer accommodation. Both the future Edward VIII and his brother George VI attended as cadets.
After the war, cadet numbers fell and the college closed with cadets transferring to Dartmouth. Many of the buildings were demolished.
A convalescent home for Officers was opened in 1904 in part of the household and main wings. They were allowed exercise in the gardens and a pavilion was built on the beach. It later became a nursing home but this was closed in 2000 due to escalating costs.
Queen Elizabeth II gave permission for the iron gates to be unlocked in 1955 allowing the public to visit Victoria’s private rooms for the first time. In 1986, Osborne House was handed over to English Heritage who have carried out external repairs, restoration and internal decoration, gradually reopening more of the house. Albert’s plans for the gardens and estate are gradually being reinstated. Victoria’s private beach with its bathing machine was opened to the public in 2012.
The house is still very much the vision of Victoria and Albert with furniture and works of art reflecting their personal tastes. It was very much a family home. The grounds still reflect Albert’s initial planting schemes. After Prince Albert’s death, there was little change to the house apart from the building of the completely different Durbar wing.
I visited on mid March. Only the ground floor of the House was open and Swiss Cottage was also shut.
website
cont...
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