Tucked into a handsome old building on the Southsea seafront, Cumberland House is Portsmouth’s Natural History Museum, and it is one of the best-value mornings in the city for the simple reason that it costs nothing to walk in. It is small, friendly and squarely aimed at families, and in the warmer months it has a trick up its sleeve that most free museums cannot match, a living butterfly house. One parent on a wet half term called it “the best free hour in Southsea,” and on the right day that is no exaggeration.
A free window on the local wild
The museum’s quiet strength is that it tells the story of the wildlife on Portsmouth’s own doorstep. For a city, the area packs in a surprising range of habitats, from the shingle and mudflats of the harbour to the chalk of Portsdown Hill, and the galleries bring those close with displays of the birds, creatures and plants you might actually meet on a walk along the coast. There is a fossil and geology side too, which gives older children something to puzzle over while the younger ones race ahead.
Inside the butterfly house
The star turn runs from May to September, when the museum opens a warm, planted butterfly house you can walk straight through. Inside are neo-tropical species, the electric-blue morphos, the big-eyed owl butterflies and the swallowtails among them, drifting between orchids, jasmine and lemon trees. A puparium lets you watch the next generation emerge from the chrysalis, and children tend to stand very still, arms out, hoping one will land. It is the kind of close encounter that usually costs a ticket, and here it does not.
Getting there, hours and cost
Cumberland House sits on Eastern Parade in Southsea, postcode PO4 9RF, a short stroll from Canoe Lake and the seafront. It opens daily from 10am to 5pm and entry is free, with only a donation invited if you are so moved. There are toilets, baby changing and a small gift shop, and the whole thing is indoors and level, so it works whatever the weather and whatever the age of the visitor. On-street parking runs along the seafront nearby, and plenty of buses pass along the front.
While you are on this stretch of the front
The museum’s location is half its appeal, because it sits in the middle of the best free run in the city. Canoe Lake and its gardens are next door, Southsea beach is a two-minute walk, and the model village is just along the road. It slots neatly into a day of free things to do in Portsmouth, and it is a reliable ace to keep up your sleeve for a family day when the clouds roll in off the Solent. Go for the butterflies in summer, stay for a gentle hour with the local wild, and spend the money you saved on an ice cream on the front.
