The first room showcases the Isle of Wight as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and situates the museum at the heart of British maritime history from the 16th Century onwards, including a large spectacular reproduction of the Cowdray engraving of the sinking of the Mary Rose in 1545.

 

“Joe Carstairs – the Fastest woman on water” tells the story of this extraordinary powerboating pioneer through a collection of her trophies, photos and film footage.

 

The large exhibition room displays the museum’s collection of maritime artefacts, featuring Colliwobble as a centrepiece. Showing the human element and the social history of the Island, we exhibit Thomas Rowlandson’s 18th Century unique drawings of Island life, on loan from the collections of the Isle of Wight Heritage Service.

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New Exhibitions

 

America's Cup - the Formula One of Yacht Racing

A new exhibition showing the remarkable technological achievements of foiling catamarans and monohulls.

 

HMS Cavalier – From Medina to Medway
This exhibition is a collaboration between Chatham Historic Dockyard, the Cavalier Association, the Isle of Wight Heritage Service, the Cowes Hammerhead Crane Trust, the East Cowes Heritage Centre and the Cowes Heritage and Community Group. Many individuals have contributed their stories and artefacts to this exhibition. Our thanks to the Cowes Waterfront Trust for their support and to Richard Johnstone-Bryden, author of HMS Cavalier – Destroyer 1944 for his advice and permission to use his images.

The destroyer, HMS Cavalier, is the only remaining ship of this type and period and is a national monument dedicated to all those who served on such ships during WWII. She was built by J. Samuel White in East Cowes and launched in 1944. HMS Cavalier is on display at Chatham Historic Dockyard and her propellor is situated on the esplanade in East Cowes. The shipyards of the River Medina played a huge part in the industrial heritage of the Isle of Wight. Over 4,000 people were employed during the two World Wars and J. Samuel Wight built 39 different types of naval vessels including destroyers, frigates and torpedo boats. HMS Cavalier was fitted out in the Medina Yard, the Hammerhead Crane being used to lift the boilers and turbines fabricated in the engineering yard into the vessels. This exhibition explores the lives of the women and men, who built, sailed in and fought on HMS Cavalier during WWII.