ANTARCTIC HUTS

Far from perfect sanctuaries by modern standards, these mostly wooden buildings helped keep early Antarctic explorers alive and safe from the surrounding frigid chaos.

DISCOVERY HUT British National Antarctic Expedition 1901–04 Hut Point, Ross Island

Year built: 1902 Leader: Commander Robert Falcon Scott Ship: Discovery

Construction: prefabricated in Sydney by James Moore; Douglas fir (Oregon) and Scots pine with felt insulation; pyramidal roof with verandahs on three sides. Dimensions: 10.4 x 9.8m Use: 1902–04: storeroom, theatre, biological workroom, emergency shelter; not lived in during the expedition.

1908: transit accommodation for polar and support parties for Shackleton’s British

Antarctic Expedition.

1911: transit stop and rendezvous point for Scott’s

British Antarctic Expedition.

1916: lived in by marooned members of Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition (Ross Sea Party). Current status: Antarctic HSM 18 within ASPA 158; two-year conservation program to weatherproof and repair the building completed in 2015 by Antarctic

Heritage Trust; 500 artefacts conserved.

Visiting: access allowed with a permit for conservation, monitoring and supervised tourist visits; no more than eight people permitted in the hut (including guides) at any time; average annual number of visitors between 1998–99 and 2013–14 was 1015. In 1911, members of Scott’s expedition revisited his 1902 Discovery Hut.

Here they can be seen cooking on a blubber stove.