Shackleton's Expedition Base, Cape Royds
The expediton base associated with Sir Ernest Shackleton's British Antarctic (Nimrod) Expedition is located at Cape Royds. It is protected under the Antarctic Treaty System.
This base is the first of the four sites to be conserved and work began on the site in 2004. The conservation programme was broken into two distinct parts:
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Securing the structure of the building (undertaken during the short Antarctic summers); and
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Conserving the thousands of artefacts associated with the site (undertaken year round).
As at late 2008 its great to confirm the majority of the carpentry works to ensure the building is structurally secure and weathertight is completed and we are in the final stages of conserving the 4,500 items which make up the artefact collection.
Securing the Structure of the Building
Our specialist team of conservation carpenters, with the assistance of an archaeologist and other experts spent three Antarcitc summers onsite to secure the building. Work undertaken included:
Roof. The roof (and roof ‘skirt’) were reclad with material matched as close to the original as possible and the original roof battens were re-laid over top. This work was critical to keeping the building watertight and secure.
Repair to the Building Fabric. Conservation and repairs have also been undertaken on the timber cladding on the exterior of the hut. This included relining Mawson’s lab to make it weatherproof.
Doors and windows which were put in during 1970’s (using modern materials) were removed and replaced with historically accurate materials (constructed using the original architectural drawings and original species of wood).
Removal of ice from underneath the building. Our team removed over 40 cubic metres of solid ice from underneath the building. This was critical for the long term health of the building and artefact collection. Not only was the ice causing the floor to buckle and heave but during the summer months the trapped ice would begin to thaw, raising the humidity levels within the building. This caused issues not only for the artefact collection (humidity accelerates decay) but also created structural issues.
Once the ice was removed a discreet waterproof cladding was fitted underneath the building to enable water to flow around (rather than underneath) the site.
The temporary removal of decaying expedition provisions around southern and eastern walls. When the expedition left in 1908 they left a number of provisions stacked up in “Venesta” cases all along the south and east exterior walls. After nearly a century outdoors the cases and their provisions had disintergrated to such a point they were causing issues: environmental (the provisions had broken down and were leaking into the environment and posed a potential risk to the Adelie penguin rookery located less than 500 metres away) and structurally (the decaying materials were compromising the hut fabric and causing damage).
All of the stores along the south and east walls were temporarily removed over two seasons by an archaeologist and conservators and relocated to Scott Base for assessment and treatment. The Venesta boxes and the provisions have now been assessed and treated. The original Venesta boxes have been consolidated and will be returned along the southern and eastern exterior walls during the 2008/09 summer season.
Reconfiguration of Interior of Building. After Shackleton’s expedition left the site, members of Captain Robert Scott’s Terra Nova expedition occupied the hut briefly in 1911/12. The site was again briefly occupied in 1915/16 by members of Shackleton’s second expedition (Trans Antarctic Expedition).
Over the next five decades the furniture/bedding/artefacts were moved around meaning the layout was no longer historically accurate. In 2006/07, our team of experts, using original photographs and diaries has returned the layout of the interior of the hut to reflect the occupation of the expedition in its last year (1908).
A Capital Maintenance Fund has been created for the site in the name of Audrey Dance. The executors of Mrs Dance’s estate made a major contribution in 2006.
Conserving the thousands of artefacts associated with the site.
In 2006, along side the project to secure the structure of the site, the Trust launched the Shackleton’s Hut Artefact Conservation Project.
We have a year round presence in Antarctica with our conservators either working the summer season (August to Feb) or winter season (Feb to August). All of our teams are base themselves at New Zealand's Scott Base.
Over the past three years our teams have conserved the 4,500+ artefact collection associated with the site. The conservators’ goal is not to make the artefacts look like new but to stabilize the artefacts and ensure the sense of history and heritage is not lost. To view a powerpoint of some of the artefacts conserved by our teams click here.
The vast majority of the artefacts from inside the building have now been conserved and returned to the site. The last of the artefacts will be returned during the 2008/09 summer season.
You can follow the work of our conservators who blog regularly for the Natural History Museum. Their blogs are updated twice weekly: www.nhm.ac.uk/antarctica-blog
The artefact conservation portion of the RSHRP has been supported by funding assistance from many sources, including the New Zealand Lottery Grants Board and Hallensteins, together with logistical support from Antarctica New Zealand.
Related Links and Documents
Meet our Specialist Conservation Team
Natural History Museum Web Blog
Go back to read about the status of each of the other expedition bases.