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South Georgia Heritage Trust<\/p>\nSouth Georgia Heritage Trust<\/p>\n
The Dundee-based South Georgia Heritage Trust have been working to stabilise the building<\/p>\n
Work is under way on a South Atlantic island to preserve a key building in the story of polar explorer Ernest Shackleton.<\/p>\n
Shackleton famously reached the whaling station of Stromness on South Georgia in 1916 after spending 18 months stranded on Antarctica with his crew.<\/p>\n
The now-dilapidated Stromness Manager’s Villa was used as a base by Shackleton while he orchestrated the rescue of his men.<\/p>\n
The Dundee-based South Georgia Heritage Trust<\/a> have been working to stabilise the structure, with plans to create a digital “twin” of the building for people around the world to see it.<\/p>\n A 2022 survey found the building was very close to collapse.<\/p>\n Alison Neil, chief executive of the South Georgia Heritage Trust, said: “The reason for that is rotting timbers. <\/p>\n “This is an old-fashioned version of a flat-pack house. <\/p>\n “They would’ve been brought down from Norway on ships and then assembled on the island.”<\/p>\n The trust raised more than \u00a33m to send a team to South Georgia. <\/p>\n They arrived in October and have been working on stabilising the structure.<\/p>\n Alison said: “It’s in the middle of a whaling station that’s full of asbestos, dangerous debris, and is not accessible to the public. <\/p>\n “Our plan is not to open it up to the public, our plan is to maintain it for the future.”<\/p>\n Sir Ernest Shackleton’s adventures continue to inspire people around the world<\/p>\n Shackleton’s extraordinary story of survival has fascinated and inspired people for more than a century.<\/p>\n His most famous mission was his plan to cross Antarctica through the South Pole on board his ship The Endurance.<\/p>\n In 1915, The Endurance became trapped in ice, and his crew abandoned ship, crossing onto floating ice, where they decided they were going to live until they could be saved.<\/p>\n In April 1916, Shackleton took five crew members in a small boat in search of help for the others. They travelled over 807 miles (1,300km) of ocean before reaching the island of South Georgia.<\/p>\n Leaving three of the men behind, Shackleton, Frank Worsley and Tom Crean trekked across the island for three days until they reached Stromness whaling station.<\/p>\n Alison said the men made it to the villa in a dishevelled state.<\/p>\n She said: “No-one recognised them, they must’ve looked terrifying.<\/p>\n “They knocked on the door of the villa and famously the whaling manager opened the door and said, ‘who the hell are you?’ <\/p>\n “Shackleton allegedly said: ‘My name is Shackleton’.”<\/p>\n It was the men’s first contact with the outside world for 17 months.<\/p>\n Shackleton, Worsley and Crean were invited in to the villa where they had a hot meal and a bath, before immediately starting the rescue of the rest of their crew with the help of the whalers.<\/p>\n Alison said: “That’s a really important part of The Endurance story and it effectively is the next chapter on from the sinking of the vessel.”<\/p>\n The building has fallen into disrepair in the past decades<\/p>\n In the coming weeks, digital specialists will go to South Georgia to scan the structure.<\/p>\n Alison said: “They’re going to capture everything that lets us decide, at some point, how we’re going to make this accessible to people.<\/p>\n “It will definitely be available on our website, for example. <\/p>\n “But we might also want to create a version where people can put a headset on and actually experience walking in to the room as it would’ve been in 1916.”<\/p>\n Work to restore the villa to its original condition began last month<\/p>\n Alison said that “heritage shouldn’t be a privilege.”<\/p>\n She said: “You don’t want it to just be something that inspires the people that can afford to come to an island. <\/p>\n “So many people are really fascinated by the story of Shackleton and the Endurance. <\/p>\n “It would be great to be able to tell everyone around the world who is keen on this story, this chapter. <\/p>\n “The most effective way to do that is to let them experience it for themselves through a digital version.”<\/p>\n Alison Neil said there were plans to create a virtual version of the villa<\/p>\n This season, 100 ships are expected to visit South Georgia, bringing around 18,000 visitors.<\/p>\n Shetlander Helen Balfour is the assistant curator at the South Georgia Museum in Grytviken, one of the island’s former whaling stations.<\/p>\n She said she sees a lot of people interested in Shackleton at the museum.<\/p>\n “People are interested in the wildlife, but actually there’s a lot of people who want to come to South Georgia to pay their respects to him.”<\/p>\n Shackleton died on board his ship, Quest, in 1922 and was buried in Grytviken.<\/a><\/p>\n![\"PA](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/c954e580-8712-11ef-83dd-fbf1b9732cf0.jpg.webp.webp\")
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South Georgia Heritage Trust<\/p>\n![\"South](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/d4a7bc30-e58c-11f0-bb65-6152e605acc9.jpg.webp.webp\")
South Georgia Heritage Trust<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/3cf2c8c0-e56f-11f0-b67b-690eb873de1b.jpg.webp.webp\")
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