Historic Huts

HISTORIC ANTARCTIC HUTS

Included here is selected information on some of the historic huts that still exist—at least in some form—in Antarctica.

There is still a lot to add to this section.

Launched: 24 December 2011. Last updated: 4 October 2014.

See also elsewhere on this site, Antarctic Historic Sites

See this page from the Natural History Museum

View Historic Huts in the Antarctic in a larger map

Cape Adare (Borchegrevink's Southern Cross expedition)
Hut Point (Scott's Discovery expedition)
Omond House, Laurie Island (Bruce's Scotia expedition)
Snow Hill Island (Nordenskjöld's Swedish South Polar expedition)
Paulet Island (Nordenskjöld's Swedish South Polar expedition)
Cape Royds (Shackleton's Nimrod expedition)
Cape Evans (Scott's Terra Nova expedition)
Cape Adare (Scott's Northern Party)
Framheim, Bay of Whales (Amundsen's Fram expedition)
Cape Denison (Mawson's Australasian Antarctic expedition)

Cape Adare

Location	Built	Expedition	Leader	Length	Width	Area	Residents	Sq Ft per Res
71°18'S, 170°12'E.	1899	Southern Cross	Borchegrevink	21 feet	18 feet	378 sq ft	10	38

Notes:

Shore Party (10)
    Carstens Borchgrevink-Leader
    Bernacchi
    Colbeck
    Ellefsen
    Evans
    Fougner
    Hanson (died 10/15/99)
    Kløvstad
    Must
    Savio

The hut at Cape Adare.
Source: unknown

A modern view of the hut at Cape Adare.
Source: Jonathan Shackleton

The hut at Cape Adare in 1991.

Ten Jaffrey residents representing the occupants of the hut within its footprint.

Hut Point, Ross Island

Location	Built	Expedition	Leader	Length	Width	Area	Residents	Sq Ft per Res
-77.847441, 166.642857	1902	Discovery	Scott	36 feet	36 feet	1,296 sq ft	48	27

Notes:

The Discovery hut in 1991.

Floor plan of the Discovery hut as it was envisioned to be laid out.
Source: David Harrowfield

Omond House, Laurie Island, South Orkney Islands

Location	Built	Expedition	Leader	Length	Width	Area	Residents	Sq Ft per Res
60°45'S, 44°43'W.	1903	Scotia/SNAE	Bruce	20 feet	20 ft	400 sq ft	6	67

Notes: "On the oak door lintel salvaged from the whaleboat, Brown carved Professor Geddes's educational motto vivendo discimus (by living we learn), and they cristened it Omond House after R.T. Omond, the meteorologist who promoted the Ben Nevis observatory…" (Harrison, John, Forgotten Footprints, p.231.)

Wintered over
    William Speirs Bruce-Leader
    Brown
    Kerr
    Mossman
    Pirie
    Ramsay (died 8/6/02)
    Ross
    Wilton

Omond House.
Source: http://gdl.cdlr.strath.ac.uk/scotia/vs031-034.htm

Omond House.
Source: unknown

Omond House in 1998.

Six Jaffrey residents representing the occupants of the hut within its footprint.

Snow Hill Island, Weddell Sea

Location	Built	Expedition	Leader	Length	Width	Area	Residents	Sq Ft per Res
64°22'S, 56°59'W.	1902	Swedish South Polar Expedition	Nordenskjöld	21 feet	13.5 feet	284 sq ft	5	57

Notes:

Shore Party (5)
    Otto Nordenskjöld-Leader
    Åkerlundh
    Bodman
    Jonassen
    Sobral

The hut at Snow Hill Island.
Source: Reader's Digest Antarctica, 1988.

The hut at Snow Hill Island.
Source: unknown.

"Our new-found companions on their arrival at Snow Hill"
Source: unknown.

Modern view of the hut at Snow Hill Island.
Source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/53094833@N03/5360724890/in/photostream

Floor plan of the hut at Snow Hill Island.
Source: Fred Goldberg et al, The Swedish Hut in Antarctica, 2001.

Elevation and floor plan of the hut at Snow Hill Island.
Source: unknown

Five Jaffrey residents representing the occupants of the hut within its footprint.

Paulet Island

Location	Built	Expedition	Leader	Length	Width	Area	Residents	Sq Ft per Res
63°34'S, 55°45'W.	1903	Swedish South Polar Expedition	Nordenskjöld	34 feet	22 feet	748 sq ft	20	37

Notes:

Shore Party (20)
    Carl Anton Larsen-Leader
    A. Andersson
    J.G. Andersson
    K.A. Andersson
    Duse
    Grunden
    Haslum
    Johansson
    Karlsen
    Martin
    Ohlin
    Olsen
    Reinholdz
    Skottsberg
    Wennersgaard (died 6/7/03)
    and 5 others

The hut at Paulet Island.
Source: Reader's Digest Antarctica, 1988.

The remains of the hut at Paulet Island in 1998.

Twenty Jaffrey residents representing the occupants of the hut within its footprint.

Cape Royds, Ross Island

Location	Built	Expedition	Leader	Length	Width	Area	Residents	Sq Ft per Res
77°33'10.7S, 166°10'6.5E.	1908	Nimrod	Shackleton	33.14 feet	19.2 feet	636 sq ft	15	42

Notes:

Shore Party (15)
    Ernest H. Shackleton-Leader
    Adams
    Armytage
    Brocklehurst
    David
    Day
    Joyce
    Mackay
    Marshall
    Marston
    Mawson
    Murray
    Priestley
    Roberts
    Wild

Site Plan, Cape Royds
Source: L. B. Quartermain, Two Huts in the Antarctic, 1963.

Floor Plan, Cape Royds Hut
Source: Conservation Report, Shackleton's Hut, British Antarctic Expedition 1907-1909, Cape Royds, Ross Island, Antarctica.
Published by the Antarctic Heritage Trust, Christchurch, March 2003.

The Cape Royds Hut
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cape_Royds

Fifteen Jaffrey residents representing the occupants of the hut within its footprint.

Cape Evans, Ross Island

Location	Built	Expedition	Leader	Length	Width	Area	Residents	Sq Ft per Res
77°38'S, 166°24'E.	1911	Terra Nova	Scott	50 feet	25 feet	1,250 sq ft	25	50

Notes:

Shore Party (25)
    Robert F. Scott-Leader
    Atkinson
    Bowers
    Cherry-Garrard
    Clissold
    Crean
    Day
    Debenham
    Evans, E.R.G.R.
    Evans, Edgar
    Forde
    Gerof
    Gran
    Hooper
    Keohane
    Lashly
    Meares
    Nelson
    Oates
    Omelchenko
    Ponting
    Simpson
    Taylor
    Wilson
    Wright

Site Plan, Cape Evans
Source: L. B. Quartermain, Two Huts in the Antarctic, 1963.

Floor Plan, Cape Evans Hut
Source: L. B. Quartermain, Two Huts in the Antarctic, 1963.

Trial erection of the hut in Lyttelton, New Zealand.
Source: David Harrowfield, Sledging into History, 1981.

Applying insulating material on the exterior, 10 January 1911.
Source: David Harrowfield, Sledging into History, 1981.

Twenty-five Jaffrey residents representing the occupants of the hut within its footprint.

Cape Adare, Victoria Land

Location	Built	Expedition	Leader	Length	Width	Area	Residents	Sq Ft per Res
71°18'S, 170°12'E.	1911	Northern Party	Campbell	20.8 feet	20.2 feet	420 sq ft	6	70

Notes:

Shore Party (6)
    Victor Campbell-Leader
    Abbott
    Browning
    Dickason
    Levick
    Priestley

The Northern Party hut at Cape Adare.
Source: unknown

Remains of the Northern Party hut at Cape Adare in 1991.

Framheim, Bay of Whales

Location	Built	Expedition	Leader	Length	Width	Area	Residents	Sq Ft per Res
78°40'S, 164°W.	1911	Fram	Amundsen	26.25 feet	13.12 feet	344 sq ft	9	38.25

Notes: Dimensions courtesy of Geir O. Kløver.

Short Party (9)
    Roald Amundsen-Leader
    Bjaaland
    Hanssen
    Hassel
    Johanssen
    Lindstrøm
    Prestud
    Stubberud
    Wisting

"Plan of the Winter Quarters of the Expedition"
Source: Sydpolen

Framheim
Source: Wikipedia

The hut being set up in a trial run at Amundsen's house.
Source: Norsk Folkemuseum, Oslo

"The hut was constructed in sections by a master carpenter, Jørgen Stubberud and erected at Amundsen's home in Norway, then dismantled for shipment to Antarctica on the Fram. The term literally means "home of the Fram". During its construction in Norway, Amundsen maintained that the hut was for "observation", which would fit in nicely with his supposed intent to head to the North Pole. To the more than casual student of exploration, it was obvious that the hut was intended as living quarters. Amundsen was, in fact, headed to the South Pole. The cabin was an early example of a pre-fabricated structure, and employed a custom dining table which could retract to the ceiling for cleaning beneath. It measured five by four meters, and the walls were made up of four layers of three inch wooden boards with cardboard between for insulation. During the long Antarctic winter, Amundsen and the members of his expedition constructed a network of workshops and storage rooms, including a steam-bath room, carved out of the ice surrounding the main hut. In this complex the men busied themselves in preparing for the upcoming journey to the South Pole."
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Framheim

Nine Jaffrey residents representing the occupants of the hut within its footprint.

Cape Denison, Commonwealth Bay

Location	Built	Expedition	Leader	Length	Width	Area	Residents	Sq Ft per Res
67°00'30"S, 142°39"40"E.	1912	Australasian Antarctic Expedition	Mawson	*	*	954 sq ft	18	53

* There are two attached huts: 24x24 and 21x18 feet.

Notes:

"The huts accommodated 18 men and 21 dogs. The main living quarters (24ft x 24ft) were pre-fabricated and donated by George Hudson & Sons (Sydney), the smaller workshop (18ft x 16ft [sic]) by Messrs Anthony (Melbourne)."
Source: From a caption on the scale model of the huts at the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery in Hobart.

There is extensive information, including photographs, on the huts and the expedition at http://www.environment.gov.au/cgi-bin/ahdb/search.pl?mode=place_detail;place_id=105713

Shore Party (18)
    Douglas Mawson-Leader
    Bage
    Bickerton
    Close
    Correll
    Hannam
    Hodgeman
    Hunter
    Jeffryes
    Laseron
    McLean
    Madigan
    Mertz
    Murphy
    Ninnis
    Stillwell
    Webb
    Whetter