Today, a visit to Osborne offers something for everyone to enjoy. Inside the house, get an intimate glimpse into royal life as you explore private apartments and grand reception rooms lined with furnishings and artworks from the Royal Collection. Diver Says He Found Mysterious Underwater Ancient Tomb, Ruins And Artifacts Of An Unknown Advanced Civilization Sharp, Evelyn (1906-05-26). "How to dress in the water". Manchester Guardian. Archived from the original on 2008-08-27 . Retrieved 2009-12-28. ill-lighted Lara Feigel, Alexandra Harris, Modernism on Sea: Art and Culture at the British Seaside (2009), p. 212

The Queen's Beach and Bathing Machine: The private beach was opened to the public in 2012. Families can swim and picnic there. During the summer months, there are traditional Punch and Judy shows. A shuttle bus takes visitors from the house to the beach throughout the day. While you are at the beach, you can have a look inside Queen Victoria's "bathing machine." In the Victorian era, swimming in the sea was a new thing and something in which women rarely indulged. But fashions changed and it was considered healthy to immerse oneself in salt water — or at least get a bit wet. The bathing machines were little cabins on wheels that were towed out into sea by horses — or sometimes servants. Inside would be a change of dry clothing and other supplies. When the bathing machine was in place, the ladies, dressed head to toe in Victorian swimming costumes, would be helped down a short flight of steps, into the water. At Osborne House, you can go inside Queen Victoria's machine. The use of bathing machines was part of the etiquette for sea-bathing to be observed by both men and women who wished to behave "respectably." [1]Probably all bathing machines had small windows, [3] but one writer in the Manchester Guardian of May 26, 1906 considered them "ill-lighted" and wondered why bathing machines were not improved with a skylight. [5] The State Rooms: The rooms where the queen entertained dignitaries and celebrities and conducted state business include a Council Room where she met with members of her Privy Council; a dining room set for a formal dinner in 1850; an opulent drawing room, decorated with yellow satin, mirrors and cut glass, and a billiards room where the queen and ladies of her court sometimes played. It is impossible to imagine a prettier spot,' said Queen Victoria of Osborne, her beloved home on the Isle of Wight.

Some resorts employed a dipper, a strong person of the same sex who would assist the bather in and out of the sea. Some dippers were said to push bathers into the water, then yank them out, considered part of the experience. [6] Man and woman in swimsuits, c. 1910. The woman is exiting a bathing machine. Once mixed-sex bathing became socially acceptable, the days of the bathing machine were numbered. Family Rooms: These rooms offer an intimate glimpse into the private lives of Albert, Victoria and their nine children. The nursery has been restored and furnished as it might have been when the royal family was in residence. You can also see the queen's personal bath and the bedroom where she died in 1901. Albert's private suite, was virtually untouched after he died and some of the things he used are still where he left them. Byrde, Penelope (2013). " 'That Frightful Unbecoming Dress' Clothes for Spa Bathing at Bath". Costume. 21 (1): 44–56. doi: 10.1179/cos.1987.21.1.44. ISSN 0590-8876.The interior is all done in snow-white enamel paint, and one-half of the floor is pierced with many holes, to allow of free drainage from wet flannels. The other half of the little room is covered with a pretty green Japanese rug. In one corner is a big-mouthed green silk bag lined with rubber. Into this, the wet bathing-togs are tossed out of the way. Neighbouring Barton Manor was thoroughly ‘restored’ by Cubitt and its outbuildings were organised as a model farm. Other building projects included estate cottages and lodges, a dormitory for male servants, and a landing house for the coastguard, with a sea wall along the coastal edge of the estate. Chapter 24 in Agnes Grey by Anne Brontë describes the morning preparations on a beach in a bathing town, including the mention bathing machines. According to some sources, the bathing machine was developed in 1750 in Margate, Kent. That version was probably intended to conceal the user until they were mostly submerged in the water because, at the time, bathing costumes were not yet common and most people bathed nude. "Mr. Benjamin Beale, a Quaker, was the inventor of the Bath Machine. Their structure is simple, but quite convenient; and by means of the umbrella, the pleasures of bathing may be enjoyed in so private a manner, as to be consistent with the strictest delicacy." [7] In the Scarborough Public Library, there is an engraving by John Setterington dated 1736 which shows people bathing and is popularly believed to be first evidence for bathing machines; however Devon claims this was a year earlier in 1735. [8] Woman in bathing suit, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, 1893