COWES, a seaport and watering-place in the Isle of Wight, England, urn. S.S.E. of Southampton. West Cowes is separated from East Cowes by the picturesque estuary of the river Medina, the two towns (each of which is an urban district) lying on op posite sides of its mouth at the apex of the northern coast of the island. Pop. West Cowes, 10,179; East Cowes, 4,595. The port between them is the chief on the island, and is the head quarters of the Royal Yacht Squadron (founded in 18 1 2) ; it is in regular steamship communication with Southampton and Portsmouth and Ryde. West Cowes is served by the S.R. A steam ferry across the Medina, here 600 yards broad, unites the towns. Higher up the river is a floating bridge. The towns owe their origin to two forts built on each side of the mouth of the Medina by Henry VIII. in 154o for coast defence. There are shipbuilding yards and engineering works. On the opposite side of the Medina is East Cowes castle, an i8th century mansion, and beyond it Osborne House, built in 1845 by Queen Victoria.