Scott’s Terra Nova hut at Cape Evans in Antarctica has a history rich in both triumph and tragedy.
The interior of Terra Nova hut Photo: Lizzie Meek / Antarctic Heritage Trust
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In January 1911 Scott and his party disembarked from the Terra Nova ship at a site Scott named Cape Evans after his second in command. Along with the dogs, ponies, sledges, food and scientific equipment they had onboard, they also had a prefabricated hut which they assembled at the cape.
This was to be the men's home over the winter, where the scientists in the party would begin to learn about this remote continent, and from where Scott and his team would launch their expedition for the South Pole the next Antarctic summer.
Francesca Eathorne and Al Fastier inside the hut. Photo: Antarctic Heritage Trust
The hut and more than 11,000 artefacts left behind by expeditions still remain today. Stepping inside, the hut seems, as Sir David Attenborough described, frozen in time.
But that is only due to the extensive conservation work undertaken by New Zealand's Antarctic Heritage Trust. In 2007 the trust began a seven year journey to conserve the wooden hut and the artefacts left behind.
From the building itself, to each tin of preserved food left behind, to the equipment and chemicals in the science lab and dark room, the conservation work was painstaking in its detail. Every artefact was documented, cared for and, where possible, placed back in the hut.
In the Antarctic's Heritage Trust podcast Frozen in Time: Scott's Antarctic Legacy the trust’s Chief Operations Officer, Francesca Eathorne, visits the hut and speaks to the conservation experts about their work.
Listen to this week's episode to hear an edit of this podcast.
Ponting's darkroom Photo: Antarctic Heritage Trust
You can hear the Antarctic Heritage Trust’s full podcast, explore photos of the hut and artefacts and hear additional audio at https://nzaht.org/frozen-in-time/.
To learn more:
- Visit the Saving Antarctic Heritage Our Changing World compilation webpage from 2015 which has different audio pieces about the conservation work both at Scott's hut at Cape Evans and Shackleton's hut at Cape Royds.
