Henry Kendall cottage and Historical Museum is situated in West Gosford just off Brisbane Water Drive. The museum is a little tricky to find due to a complicated intersection. The best way to approach the museum is to take the very first right turn off Brisbane Water drive when entering Brisbane Water Drive from the Pacific Highway and then the next immediate left onto Henry Kendall Street. The museum is found at number 27 Henry Kendall Street (behind the shopping centre).

The museum is owned and maintained by the Brisbane Water Historical Society and is open 10:00am to 3:00pm wednesdays, saturdays, sundays, school and public holidays. Entry is a very reasonable $3 for adults and $2 for child or concession. The museum is staffed by very helpfull and friendly volunteers from the society and presents a relaxed atmosphere that can be enjoyed by all ages.

The museums collection of exhibits is astounding in its diversity. Aside from the cottage itself the complex includes a museum, a slab timber shed, a machinery shed and several outbuildings including a laundry and a wooden outhouse all furnished in the style of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

The cottage itself was built by convict labour at the directon of a wealthy gentleman by the name of Peter Fagan. It was completed around 1836-1840 and consisted of locally quarried sandstone walls and roofed with oak shingles. It was licenced as the Red Cow Inn in 1840 and remained in the Fagan family through their various ventures until it was purchased by Colonel Garnet Adcock in 1921. It remained as a private residence from 1921 through to 1960 when it was condemned by Gosford Shire Council. The Brisbane Water Historical Society purchased the cottage and 1 hectare of adjoining land and spent the next three years repairing the premises. In 1963 the Henry Kendall Cottage Historical Museum of the Pioneers was opened. The cottage's current name is derived from the famous poet Henry Kendall, who spent a number of years as a guest of the Fagans in the cottage while recovering from an illness.

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