Polar Museum Opens
Since April 2009, we have undertaken a comprehensive redevelopment of the Polar Museum at the Scott Polar Research Institute, this was possible with support from the Heritage Lottery Fund.
The existing gallery space was increased by 20%, with more objects being displayed. A new temporary exhibition area was also provided, and the original entrance on Lensfield Road was re-opened. The new Museum is on a single level and fully accessible to wheelchair users, with new lifts to both the Museum and Institute entrances.
Our collections are unrivalled and include the last letters of Captain R.F. Scott and his companions, the four expedition diaries of Sir Ernest Shackleton, the Antarctic photographs of Herbert Ponting (acquired with a previous HLF grant), and extensive records, artwork, and artefacts from the British search for the Northwest Passage. The refurbished Museum has innovative and changing exhibitions that bring audiences closer to the most remote areas of our planet – the Polar Regions – and interpret the way in which exploration, scientific investigation and indigenous knowledge contribute to our current understanding of the relationships between the Arctic and Antarctic and the rest of the world.
The museum was opened on 8 June 2010 by TRH The Earl and Countess of Wessex, marking the centenary of Scott’s 1910-13 British Antarctic (Terra Nova) Expedition.
Opening times: from 10am-4pm daily from Tuesday to Saturday. Admission to the Museum is free and all are welcome.
For more information, please visit the website.
