BORCHGREVINK’S HUT

Cape Adare, East Antarctica British Antarctic Expedition 1898–1900

Year built: 1899 Leader: Carsten Borchgrevink

Ship: Southern Cross

Construction: two huts (one for living, one for storage) prefabricated in Norway by Strømmen Trævarefabrikk, of interlocking pine with a makeshift entry porch; living hut had a double floor and was insulated with cardboard, with a roof covered with sealskins; store hut unroofed before the expedition departed

Cape Adare. Dimensions: Living hut: 6.4 x 5.4m Use: 1899–1900: 10 men. 1911: Northern Party, Scott’s British Antarctic Expedition (led by Victor Campbell); ruins of a separate hut erected by the Northern Party stand nearby. Current status: HSM 22 within ASPA 159; a four-year conservation program by the Antarctic Heritage Trust began in 2015–16; Norwegian government helping fund the work. Visiting: access allowed with a permit for conservation, monitoring and supervised ship-based tourist visits; access to the ASPA limited to 40 people, with no more than four permitted in the hut (including guides) at any time; due to Cape Adare’s remoteness, average annual number of visitors between 1998–99 and 2013–14 was just 181.

Two Antarctic essentials during the early days of exploration were the Primus stove, a late 19th-century Swedish invention, and mittens made of wool. British and Australian explorers particularly favoured wool for polar clothing during the heroic era....