There’s something deliciously cinematic about arriving at Strawberry Hill House on a rainy morning - the white Gothic turrets glistening under the drizzle, the gardens turning that particular shade of English green that only seems to appear after a storm. Families in wellingtons splashed through puddles at the gates, seemingly oblivious to the quiet drama unfolding inside: Henry VIII’s Lost Dagger: From the Tudor Court to the Victorian Stage.
On view from 1 November 2025 to 16 February 2026, the exhibition traces the extraordinary journey of a vanished 16th-century Ottoman dagger, once believed to have belonged to Henry VIII himself.
Its story begins with Horace Walpole, the 18th-century writer, collector, and architect who transformed Strawberry Hill into a Gothic dreamscape and filled it with treasures that fuelled Britain’s obsession with the fantastical. Among them was this mysterious dagger. When Walpole’s collection was sold in 1842, the piece found a new home with Charles John Kean, the celebrated Shakespearean actor known for pioneering historically accurate productions - what critics of the time called “living museums.” The dagger disappeared after Kean’s death, leaving behind a trail of intrigue that Dr Silvia Davoli, Principal Curator at Strawberry Hill, has spent years trying to unravel.
Stepping inside the exhibition, it’s easy to feel the pull of the past. The entrance, discreetly tucked behind the gift shop, opens into a dimly lit hall where two sculptural figures - woven from twigs, holly, and moss - stand sentinel at the foot of the grand staircase. A single candle flickers within a replica chandelier, throwing soft light onto the crimson walls.
Each room of the house feels like a storybook. The library, perfectly framed by two circular stained-glass windows, glows in the muted afternoon light. It’s the sort of room that makes you wonder whether Walpole ever imagined his fictional Castle of Otranto could one day become so tangible. Upstairs, the famous Red Hall gives way to the exhibition space, where a display of Ottoman daggers, exquisite, intricate, and unmistakably regal - offers a glimpse of what the lost treasure might have looked like.
It’s not just an exhibition; it’s an act of historical imagination. Henry VIII’s Lost Dagger doesn’t simply catalogue artefacts - it invites visitors to follow a mystery through centuries of art, theatre, and obsession. And like all good mysteries, it leaves you wondering whether the dagger’s true story has been found, or whether it’s still hiding somewhere in the folds of history, waiting to be rediscovered.
