Ventnor Heritage Centre

"To Collect, Record and preserve the rich heritage and history of Ventnor and surrounding villages, and share it with local and wider communities"

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Visit Ventnor Heritage Centre

For opening times please see Ventnor Heritage Centre home page.

Address: Ventnor Heritage Centre is at 11 Spring Hill, Ventnor PO38 1PE.  We are in the centre of Ventnor, opposite the Central Car Park. The Museum is accessible for wheelchair users and others needing level access.

Museum Admission:  Admission is free (donations are welcome); children under 16 must be accompanied.

Group visits: We can arrange for group visits outside our normal opening hours and are willing to arrange local heritage tours or off-site visits and displays. Please contact us if you are interested.

email: info@ventnorheritage.org.uk
Tel 01983 855407 (but please be aware that the phone can only be answered when the Heritage Centre is open)

Exhibitions, stories, images . . .

Olivia: Portrait of a Life

Olivia Parkes (1881-1962) was born in Walsall in the Midlands, but for many years lived a solitary life in a wooden hut in Myrtle Bay in Ventnor, where local people referred to her as ‘Britannia’, and her life has been a constant source of fascination to local people and visitors. This new exhibition for 2024, inspired in part by the ‘Olivia’ art installation by Teresa Grimaldi and Sarah Vardy shown at Ventnor Fringe Festival in 2023, features a model of Olivia’s home (Britannia’s Hut) and is accompanied by an extensive board display. A new book, 'Britannia, The Extraordinary Life of Olivia Parkes' is available to buy in the Ventnor Heritage Centre, or by post from our Online Shop.  

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