2024-25 Conservation Season
During the upcoming summer conservation season the Trust will have teams working in three areas of Antarctica: at Cape Adare, the site of Borchgrevink’s 1899 expedition base, and the remnants of Scott’s Northern party Hut, on Ross Island working at the historic explorer bases of Scott, Shackleton, and Hillary, and on the Antarctic Peninsula, working with our sister trust, UKAHT.
On Ross Island, Zack Bennett, Trust Building Conservation Programme Manager, will lead the team as well as completing specialist built-heritage work. Joining him will be our Lead Artefacts Conservator, and two Archaeologists. The Trust’s new General Manager of Programmes, Johan Bergman, is joining the team, to familiarise himself with the conservation project while also providing support to the conservation team on site.
The primary focus of this season’s On-Ice work programme will be archaeology, with a particular emphasis on Cape Evans, the site of Scott’s Terra Nova hut.
“Building upon the initial archaeological site assessments and data capture conducted by Gordon Macdonald last season, the team is excited to deepen our understanding of how early explorers utilised these historic sites and how the sites are responding to changing climate conditions”, says Zack.
The team will also undertake a wide range of important conservation tasks across the Ross Island explorer bases.
At Shackleton’s Nimrod hut, Cape Royds, work will include annual building and artefact inspections, and the installation of new environmental monitoring equipment. The team will also perform conservation treatments on expedition footwear and Sir Phillip Lee Brocklehurst’s leg protector – a unique artefact used after his frostbitten toe amputation following the first summit of Mt Erebus during the 1907–09 British Antarctic Expedition.
At Cape Evans the team will carry out essential maintenance, including repairs to Scott’s Terra Nova hut. Artefact conservation efforts will focus on supporting the archaeological work programme, and assisting with historic chemical audits.
Hillary’s TAE/IGY hut and Scott’s Discovery hut will both undergo minor maintenance and repairs. In addition, the team will conduct an installation trial for a winter cover to protect the Observation Hill cross.
The Trust is working with Antarctica New Zealand and the New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) to resolve potential ordnance issues at Cape Adare after the event was cancelled last year. Planning is underway for a Trust Heritage Consultant and experts from the NZDF to conduct a safety assessment to identify and manage any historic ordnance potentially buried at the site. This crucial step will enable future conservation work on the first expedition base ever built in Antarctica. The Trust is committed to safeguarding this significant piece of polar heritage while ensuring the safety of all involved in the conservation efforts.
As part of the Trust’s ongoing collaboration with international partners, Collections Conservation Manager Lizzie Meek will again deploy to the Antarctic Peninsula, to work alongside the United Kingdom Antarctic Heritage Trust (UKAHT) at their historic sites, this time at Blaiklock refuge, a small emergency shelter associated with the nearby Base Y (Horseshoe Island).
