Scott's Hut
Encyclopedia
Scott's Hut is a building located on the north shore of Cape Evans
on Ross Island
in Antarctica. It was erected in 1911 by the British Antarctic Expedition of 1910–1913
(also known as the Terra Nova
Expedition) led by Robert Falcon Scott
. In selecting a base of operations for the 1910–1913 Expedition, Scott rejected the notion of re-occupying the hut
he had built by McMurdo Sound
during the Discovery Expedition
of 1901–1904. This first hut was located at Hut Point
, 20 km south of Cape Evans
. Two factors influenced this decision. One was that the hut was extremely cold for living quarters and the other was that Scott's ship, the Discovery
, had been trapped by sea ice at Hut Point, a problem he hoped to avoid by establishing his new base further north.
Some confusion arises because Discovery Hut
can correctly be referred to as 'Scott's' Hut, in that his expedition built it, and it was his base ashore during the 1901–1904 expedition. But the title 'Scott's Hut' correctly belongs to the building erected in 1911 at Cape Evans.
wrote that the hut was divided into separate areas for sleeping and working by a bulkhead made of boxes of stores. A stable building (for nineteen Siberian ponies) approximately 50 feet by 16 feet was subsequently attached to the north wall of the main building. A utility room, approximately 40 by was also added later, built around the original small porch at the South West end of the main building. Considerable effort was made to insulate the building, and to extract the maximum amount of heat from the flues from the stove and the heater, based on lessons learnt from the Discovery Hut
. Terra Nova expeditioners described the hut as being warm to the point of being uncomfortable.
There is a cross erected on a hill behind Scott's Hut at Cape Evans, however, this is not connected to Captain Scott, having been erected in memory of the three members of Shackleton's Ross Sea Party
, who died nearby. The cross erected in memory of Captain Scott and his polar companions is to be found atop Observation Hill
.
. Following the failure of Scott's southern party to return several men remained behind for a further winter (1912) in order to search for the bodies the next spring. In 1913, the Terra Nova expedition over, it was left well supplied with stores in the way of food and oil, and a certain amount of coal.
The hut was reused from 1915-1917 by several of Shackleton's Ross Sea party
after the Aurora
, which was to have been the permanent winter quarters, broke adrift in May 1915, and went north with the ice, unable to return. The hut became the permanent living quarters for the ten marooned men, and thanks to the stores they were able to sustain life in comparative comfort, supplementing these stores from Shackleton's Hut at Cape Royds
. In January 1917, after Shackleton had rescued the survivors, he had the hut put in order and locked up.
Although abandoned from 1917, the hut and its contents are remarkably well preserved today due to the consistently sub-freezing conditions.
dug it out of the snow and ice. It was found to be in a remarkable state of preservation, and included many artifacts from both the earlier expeditions. While some artifacts were taken as souvenirs at the time (and since), this hut remained largely as it was in 1917.
New Zealand and the UK have undertaken responsibility at various times since the 1970s to restore (largely removing snow and ice) both Scott's hut and Discovery Hut http://www.nhm.ac.uk/nature-online/earth/antarctica/about/index.htmlhttp://www.heritage-antarctica.org/index.cfm/default/.
While the preservation of food in the freezing temperatures and dry climate has been noted, bacterial decay still occurs. Visitors describe the seal meat preserved at the Discovery Hut as smelling 'quite rancid', and there are concerns that the fabric of these huts are being affected by fungal decay http://forestpathology.coafes.umn.edu/addantarctica.htm. Both Scott's Hut and Shackleton's Hut have been included on the World Monuments Watch List of 100 Most Endangered Sites.
Cape Evans
Cape Evans is a rocky cape on the west side of Ross Island, forming the north side of the entrance to Erebus Bay.The cape was discovered by the Discovery expedition under Robert Falcon Scott, who named it the Skuary. Scott's second expedition, the British Antarctic Expedition , built its...
on Ross Island
Ross Island
Ross Island is an island formed by four volcanoes in the Ross Sea near the continent of Antarctica, off the coast of Victoria Land in McMurdo Sound.-Geography:...
in Antarctica. It was erected in 1911 by the British Antarctic Expedition of 1910–1913
Terra Nova Expedition
The Terra Nova Expedition , officially the British Antarctic Expedition 1910, was led by Robert Falcon Scott with the objective of being the first to reach the geographical South Pole. Scott and four companions attained the pole on 17 January 1912, to find that a Norwegian team led by Roald...
(also known as the Terra Nova
Terra Nova (ship)
The Terra Nova was built in 1884 for the Dundee whaling and sealing fleet. She worked for 10 years in the annual seal fishery in the Labrador Sea, proving her worth for many years before she was called upon for expedition work.Terra Nova was ideally suited to the polar regions...
Expedition) led by Robert Falcon Scott
Robert Falcon Scott
Captain Robert Falcon Scott, CVO was a Royal Navy officer and explorer who led two expeditions to the Antarctic regions: the Discovery Expedition, 1901–04, and the ill-fated Terra Nova Expedition, 1910–13...
. In selecting a base of operations for the 1910–1913 Expedition, Scott rejected the notion of re-occupying the hut
Discovery Hut
Discovery Hut was built by Robert Falcon Scott during the Discovery Expedition of 1901–1904 in 1902 and is located at Hut Point on Ross Island by McMurdo Sound, Antarctica. Visitors to Antarctica, arriving at either the US Base at McMurdo or New Zealand's Scott Base are likely to encounter...
he had built by McMurdo Sound
McMurdo Sound
The ice-clogged waters of Antarctica's McMurdo Sound extend about 55 km long and wide. The sound opens into the Ross Sea to the north. The Royal Society Range rises from sea level to 13,205 feet on the western shoreline. The nearby McMurdo Ice Shelf scribes McMurdo Sound's southern boundary...
during the Discovery Expedition
Discovery Expedition
The British National Antarctic Expedition, 1901–04, generally known as the Discovery Expedition, was the first official British exploration of the Antarctic regions since James Clark Ross's voyage sixty years earlier...
of 1901–1904. This first hut was located at Hut Point
Hut Point Peninsula
Hut Point Peninsula is a long, narrow land mass from 2 to 3 miles wide and 15 miles long, projecting southwest from the slopes of Mount Erebus on Ross Island....
, 20 km south of Cape Evans
Cape Evans
Cape Evans is a rocky cape on the west side of Ross Island, forming the north side of the entrance to Erebus Bay.The cape was discovered by the Discovery expedition under Robert Falcon Scott, who named it the Skuary. Scott's second expedition, the British Antarctic Expedition , built its...
. Two factors influenced this decision. One was that the hut was extremely cold for living quarters and the other was that Scott's ship, the Discovery
RRS Discovery
The RRS Discovery was the last traditional wooden three-masted ship to be built in Britain. Designed for Antarctic research, she was launched in 1901. Her first mission was the British National Antarctic Expedition, carrying Robert Falcon Scott and Ernest Shackleton on their first, successful...
, had been trapped by sea ice at Hut Point, a problem he hoped to avoid by establishing his new base further north.
Some confusion arises because Discovery Hut
Discovery Hut
Discovery Hut was built by Robert Falcon Scott during the Discovery Expedition of 1901–1904 in 1902 and is located at Hut Point on Ross Island by McMurdo Sound, Antarctica. Visitors to Antarctica, arriving at either the US Base at McMurdo or New Zealand's Scott Base are likely to encounter...
can correctly be referred to as 'Scott's' Hut, in that his expedition built it, and it was his base ashore during the 1901–1904 expedition. But the title 'Scott's Hut' correctly belongs to the building erected in 1911 at Cape Evans.
Description
Scott's Hut was prefabricated in England before being brought south by ship. It is rectangular, 50 feet (15.2 m) long and 25 feet (7.6 m) wide. Insulation was provided by seaweed sewn into a quilt, placed between double-planked inner and outer walls. The roof was a sandwich of three layers of plank and 2 layers of rubber ply enclosing more quilted seaweed. Lighting was provided by acetylene gas, and heating came from the kitchen and a supplementary stove using coal as fuel. Apsley Cherry-GarrardApsley Cherry-Garrard
Apsley George Benet Cherry-Garrard was an English explorer of Antarctica. He was a survivor of the Terra Nova Expedition and is acclaimed for his historical account of this expedition, The Worst Journey in the World....
wrote that the hut was divided into separate areas for sleeping and working by a bulkhead made of boxes of stores. A stable building (for nineteen Siberian ponies) approximately 50 feet by 16 feet was subsequently attached to the north wall of the main building. A utility room, approximately 40 by was also added later, built around the original small porch at the South West end of the main building. Considerable effort was made to insulate the building, and to extract the maximum amount of heat from the flues from the stove and the heater, based on lessons learnt from the Discovery Hut
Discovery Hut
Discovery Hut was built by Robert Falcon Scott during the Discovery Expedition of 1901–1904 in 1902 and is located at Hut Point on Ross Island by McMurdo Sound, Antarctica. Visitors to Antarctica, arriving at either the US Base at McMurdo or New Zealand's Scott Base are likely to encounter...
. Terra Nova expeditioners described the hut as being warm to the point of being uncomfortable.
There is a cross erected on a hill behind Scott's Hut at Cape Evans, however, this is not connected to Captain Scott, having been erected in memory of the three members of Shackleton's Ross Sea Party
Ross Sea Party
The Ross Sea party was a component of Sir Ernest Shackleton's Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition 1914–17. Its task was to lay a series of supply depots across the Great Ice Barrier from the Ross Sea to the Beardmore Glacier, along the polar route established by earlier Antarctic expeditions...
, who died nearby. The cross erected in memory of Captain Scott and his polar companions is to be found atop Observation Hill
Observation Hill (McMurdo Station)
Observation Hill is a large hill adjacent to McMurdo Station in Antarctica and commonly called "Ob Hill." It is frequently climbed to get good viewing points across the continent. Regular clear skies give excellent visibility....
.
Use of Scott's Hut
During the winter of 1911, 25 men of the Terra Nova shore party lived in the hut. From here Scott and his men set out on the ultimately fatal trek to the South PoleSouth Pole
The South Pole, also known as the Geographic South Pole or Terrestrial South Pole, is one of the two points where the Earth's axis of rotation intersects its surface. It is the southernmost point on the surface of the Earth and lies on the opposite side of the Earth from the North Pole...
. Following the failure of Scott's southern party to return several men remained behind for a further winter (1912) in order to search for the bodies the next spring. In 1913, the Terra Nova expedition over, it was left well supplied with stores in the way of food and oil, and a certain amount of coal.
The hut was reused from 1915-1917 by several of Shackleton's Ross Sea party
Ross Sea Party
The Ross Sea party was a component of Sir Ernest Shackleton's Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition 1914–17. Its task was to lay a series of supply depots across the Great Ice Barrier from the Ross Sea to the Beardmore Glacier, along the polar route established by earlier Antarctic expeditions...
after the Aurora
Aurora (ship)
SY Aurora was a steam yacht built by Alexander Stephen & Sons Ltd. shipbuilders in Glasgow, Scotland, in 1876, for the Dundee Seal and Whale Fishing Company. Her primary use was whaling in the northern seas, and she was built sturdily enough to withstand the heavy weather and ice that would be...
, which was to have been the permanent winter quarters, broke adrift in May 1915, and went north with the ice, unable to return. The hut became the permanent living quarters for the ten marooned men, and thanks to the stores they were able to sustain life in comparative comfort, supplementing these stores from Shackleton's Hut at Cape Royds
Cape Royds
Cape Royds, Antarctica, is a dark rock cape forming the west extremity of Ross Island, facing on McMurdo Sound. Discovered by the Discovery Expedition and named for Lieutenant Charles W.R. Royds, Royal Navy, who acted as meteorologist for the expedition...
. In January 1917, after Shackleton had rescued the survivors, he had the hut put in order and locked up.
Although abandoned from 1917, the hut and its contents are remarkably well preserved today due to the consistently sub-freezing conditions.
Preservation and decay at Scott's Hut
After 1917 it remained untouched until 1956 when US expeditionersOperation Deep Freeze
Operation Deep Freeze is the codename for a series of United States missions to Antarctica, beginning with "Operation Deep Freeze I" in 1955–56, followed by "Operation Deep Freeze II", "Operation Deep Freeze III", and so on...
dug it out of the snow and ice. It was found to be in a remarkable state of preservation, and included many artifacts from both the earlier expeditions. While some artifacts were taken as souvenirs at the time (and since), this hut remained largely as it was in 1917.
New Zealand and the UK have undertaken responsibility at various times since the 1970s to restore (largely removing snow and ice) both Scott's hut and Discovery Hut http://www.nhm.ac.uk/nature-online/earth/antarctica/about/index.htmlhttp://www.heritage-antarctica.org/index.cfm/default/.
While the preservation of food in the freezing temperatures and dry climate has been noted, bacterial decay still occurs. Visitors describe the seal meat preserved at the Discovery Hut as smelling 'quite rancid', and there are concerns that the fabric of these huts are being affected by fungal decay http://forestpathology.coafes.umn.edu/addantarctica.htm. Both Scott's Hut and Shackleton's Hut have been included on the World Monuments Watch List of 100 Most Endangered Sites.
External links
- Scott's hut needs repair from the BBC
- Discussion on issues surrounding the future of Scott's huts
- Photographs of Scott's Hut at Cape Evans today
- Index of Huts, Ruins and Historic Sites in Antarctica
- The page featuring Scott's Hut in the World Monuments Fund's 2008 Watch List of the 100 Most Endangered Sites