Russell-Cotes Art Gallery & Museum

The Russell-Cotes Art Gallery is an art museum housed in a cliff-top residence in Bournemouth overlooking the English Channel. The building preserves its Victorian rooms where paintings, sculptures, and objects collected during travels around the world are displayed throughout.

Merton Russell-Cotes gave this house to his wife Annie as a birthday gift in 1901, and the couple opened it to the public in 1908. The building was constructed in the Art Nouveau style and reflects the collecting interests of a late Victorian family.

The gallery displays works by female artists of the 1800s alongside European paintings and British art from the Victorian era. The rooms themselves tell a story through their furnishings and collected pieces, showing what mattered artistically to a wealthy family of that time.

The building sits on a cliff accessed by stairs and paths from the town center, with the museum providing manual wheelchairs for visitors. A café with terrace seating provides a place to rest while taking in views of the gardens and coastline.

Many objects in the museum come from the Russell-Cotes couple's travels to distant lands, reflecting their taste for rare and unusual pieces. This personal collection makes the place less like a traditional art museum and more like a window into one family's passion for collecting and exploring the world.

Location: Bournemouth

Location: Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole

Inception: 1908

Official opening: August 1, 1974

Architectural style: Art Nouveau architecture

Address: East Cliff, Bournemouth BH1 3AA

Opening Hours: Tuesday-Saturday 10:00-17:00

Phone: +441202451800

Email: R-c.enquiries@bournemouth.gov.uk

Website: http://russellcotes.com

GPS coordinates: 50.71760,-1.87070

Latest update: December 8, 2025 19:58