Winter Island is an island long, lying north of Skua Island in the

Argentine Islands The Argentine Islands are a group of islands in the Wilhelm Archipelago of Antarctica, situated southwest of Petermann Island, and northwest of Cape Tuxen on Kyiv Peninsula in Graham Land. They were discovered by the French Antarctic Expedition ...

Wilhelm Archipelago The Wilhelm Archipelago is an island archipelago off the west coast of the Antarctic Peninsula in Antarctica. Wilhelm Archipelago consists of numerous islands, the largest of which are Booth Island and Hovgaard Island. The archipelago extends f ...

, off the west coast of

Graham Land Graham Land is the portion of the Antarctic Peninsula that lies north of a line joining Cape Jeremy and Cape Agassiz. This description of Graham Land is consistent with the 1964 agreement between the British Antarctic Place-names Committee and ...

Antarctica Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean, it contains the geographic South Pole. Antarctica is the fifth-largest contine ...

History

Winter Island was named by the British Graham Land Expedition (BGLE), 1934–37, which made this island the site of its winter base during 1935. The

Falkland Islands Dependencies Survey The British Antarctic Survey (BAS) is the United Kingdom's national polar research institute. It has a dual purpose, to conduct polar science, enabling better understanding of global issues, and to provide an active presence in the Antarctic on ...

established a base on Winter Island in 1947, Base F (Argentine Islands). The main hut, built on the site of the old BGLE hut, was named "Wordie House" after Sir

James Wordie Sir James Mann Wordie CBE FRS FRSGS LLD (26 April 1889 – 16 January 1962) was a Scottish polar explorer and geologist. Friends knew him as Jock Wordie. He was President of the Royal Geographical Society from 1951 to 1954. Early life and e ...

, a member of Shackleton's

Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition The Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition of 1914–1917 is considered to be the last major expedition of the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration. Conceived by Sir Ernest Shackleton, the expedition was an attempt to make the first land crossing ...

who visited during its construction. Wordie House "was constructed using building materials from the hut at Port Lockroy and material salvaged from the whaling station at Deception Island,” according to the United Kingdom Antarctic Heritage Trust. In May 1954, “the operation of the station and science program moved to a new building on the neighboring Galindez Island. The station was renamed Faraday and it continued the longstanding meteorological program that began at Wordie House. Faraday was renamed Vernadsky in 1996 when the UK transferred it to Ukraine.” In 1960, Wordie House was briefly reoccupied when a party failed to reach Base T at Adelaide Island and were forced to overwinter in the hut. “The hut consists of the kitchen and living room, generator shed, office, dog room, and toilet,” according to the trust. “A number of original artefacts are still found on site. … A timber flagpole and a rare timber British Crown Land sign are also found outside.” Normal occupancy of Wordie House in its early years was four to five people. Cans of coffee and other goods, records, tools, paint cans, plates, pots, pans, books, typewriters, radio equipment, and other items still remain in the hut, making it a fascinating time capsule of life in one of the first scientific stations established in Antarctica.

Historic site

Wordie House is of historic importance as an example of an early British scientific base. It has been restored and designated a Historic Site or Monument (HSM 62), following a proposal by the United Kingdom to the Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting. A
Antarctic Treaty Visitor Site Guide for Wordie House
is available from the United Kingdom Antarctic Heritage Trust.

References

{{Historic Sites and Monuments in Antarctica, state=collapsed Islands of the Wilhelm Archipelago Historic Sites and Monuments of Antarctica

History

Historic site

See also

References