MAWSON’S HUTS HISTORIC SITE CONSERVATION PLAN Michael Pearson October 1993 i MAWSON’S HUTS HISTORIC SITE CONSERVATION PLAN CONTENTS 1. Summary of documentary and physical evidence 1 2. Assessment of cultural significance 11 3. Information for the development of the conservation and management policy 19 4. Conservation and management policy 33 5. Implementation of policy 42 6. Bibliography 49 Appendix 1 Year One - Draft Works Plan ii INTRODUCTION This Conservation Plan was written by Michael Pearson of the Australian Heritage Commission (AHC) at the behest of the Mawson’s Huts Conservation Committee (MHCC) and the Australian Antarctic Division (AAD). It draws on work undertaken by Project Blizzard (Blunt 1991) and Allom Lovell Marquis-Kyle Architects (Allom 1988). The context for its production was the proposal by the Mawson’s Huts Conservation Committee (a private group supported by both the AHC and AAD) to raise funds by public subscription to carry out conservation work at the Mawson’s Huts Site. The Conservation Plan was developed between July 1992 and May 1993, with comment on drafts and input from members of the MHCC Technical Committee, William Blunt, Malcolm Curry, Sir Peter Derham, David Harrowfield, Linda Hay, Janet Hughes, Rod Ledingham, Duncan Marshall, John Monteath, and Fiona Peachey. The Conservation Plan outlines the reasons why Mawson’s Huts are of cultural significance, the condition of the site, the various issues which impinge upon its management, states the conservation policy to be applied, and how that policy might be implemented. Prior to each season’s work at the Historic Site a Works Program will be developed which indicates the works to be undertaken towards the achievement of the Plan. Following each season of works the Conservation Plan may be revised to take account of new evidence and knowledge gained. Approval of works and amendment of the Plan are matters that are the responsibility of the manager of the Historic Site, the Australian Antarctic Division. CHAPTER 1. SUMMARY AND DOCUMENTATION OF EVIDENCE The documentary and physical evidence for the Mawson's Huts site is provided in Allom 1988, and Blunt 1991 (Vol 1.). These reports place the various huts and the site as a whole in an Australian and a world context. I do not intend to repeat this information and analysis here, but to regard the Allom report, supported in particular by the physical evidence provided in the Blunt report, as being the documentation on which the analysis of the cultural significance of the Mawson's Huts Historic Site will be based. The basic outline of the evidence is provided here for continuity and to provide a summary as background for the following parts of this Conservation Plan, but this Plan should be read in conjunction with the Allom report and the Blunt report. 1.1 The Australasian Antarctic Expedition 1911-1914. Mawson planned the Australasian Antarctic Expedition (AAE) in 1911, following his involvement in the Shackleton expedition (1907-1909), offers to join the Scott expedition of 1910, and attempts to involve Shackleton in an expedition to the Australian sector of the continent. The AAE was largely manned by Australians and New Zealanders, and was financially supported by the Australian and British Governments as well as by a number of scientific bodies and private individuals through public subscription. The British antecedents to the AAE, while acknowledging the value of science , were still organised primarily as expeditions of adventurous geographic discovery in the mold of the 19th century British Arctic expeditions. Indeed, the preparation for Scott's first ("Discovery") expedition in 1902 saw a major debate between those who wished to see science as the dominant purpose of the expedition, and those who wished to see the naval exploration tradition continued. The latter won (Markham 1986). The AAE, unlike its British antecedents, was to be solely devoted to science and scientific geographic enquiry, to investigate the region of Antarctica which lay immediately south of Australia. The plan was to land three parties at widely separated points along the coast between 900E and 1580E, each to make continuous scientific recording at the base station and to carry out investigations of the surrounding regions by sledge journeys. A fourth party was to be landed at Macquarie Island, to carry out scientific work and to act as a wireless relay station for the first Antarctic wireless transmissions from the main Antarctic base. The party was taken south in the "Aurora", a 600 ton, Dundee built, Arctic sealing and whaling ship. A party of 6 was landed at Macquarie Island, and the "Aurora" proceeded to the Antarctic mainland. Weather and timing problems lead to the decision to combine two of the mainland parties in a main base, and 18 men and two base huts (subsequently combined as the workshop and living hut) were landed at Cape Denison in Commonwealth Bay (Lat. 67000'S, Long. 142042' E) in January 1912. This base is what is now called the Mawson's Huts Historic Site. The remaining party of 8 men under the leadership of Antarctic veteran Frank Wild was landed subsequently on what they named the Shackleton Ice Shelf over 2,400 km along the coast to the west. From the main base at Cape Denison Mawson and members of his party carried out a wide ranging scientific recording program in areas such as physics (magnetic and auroral observations especially), biology, meteorology, geology, and astronomy. Various sledging parties explored the coastal and inland regions up to 506 km to the east, 254 km to the west, and 480 km south. Mawson's own eastern journey was the tragedy of the expedition. At 506 km distant from the hut one of the party of three, Belgrave Ninnis, disappeared down a crevasse, together with the 6 best sledge dogs, sledge, tent, and most of the food and spare clothing. Mawson and his remaining companion, Xavier Mertz, were left with a sledge, a spare tent cover and 10 days food for themselves and nothing for the remaining dogs. They were over 500 km and 5 weeks travelling time from the hut. Mawson and Mertz commenced their return journey, eating the dogs as they grew too weak to pull the sledge. The last dog was killed 10 days from the turning point. Mawson and Mertz continued man-hauling the sledge, and eating the dog meat they carried. Mertz died of what has been since diagnosed as vitamin A poisoning from eating dogs liver, while they were still 160 km from the hut. Mawson cut-down the sledge, and continued alone towards the hut in a growing state of debilitation. Mawson arrived at Aladdin's Cave, a depot on the ice cap above Cape Denison a month after Mertz' death and nearly 7 weeks since Ninnis' death. He was trapped in the cave for a week by a blizzard, and finally arrived at the hut on the same day (February 8, 1913) that the "Aurora" had left. The ship was unable to return, having to relieve the western party before winter set in, and Mawson, in very poor condition, had to endure another winter at Cape Denison, with the company of 6 men who had stayed behind to search for his party. The party was finally taken off by the "Aurora" in December 1913. The AAE had established a major recording of continuous meteorological observations, correlated to weather conditions in Macquarie Island and Australia by wireless communication. Its other scientific work laid the foundations for subsequent scientific expeditions and a model for such work. It had explored by sledge and ship over 1,100 km of coastline and penetrated over 400 km inland towards the South Magnetic Pole. It had carried out the first wireless transmissions from Antarctica. It was also the first major Australian scientific expedition of international significance after Federation. The value of this work, and the extraordinary story of endurance of Mawson's sledge journey, were overshadowed by the attainment of the South Geographic Pole by Amundsen and Scott, and the deaths of Scott and his companions in 1912. World War One was also soon to take public attention away from the "Heroic era" endeavours in Antarctica. As a result, the achievements of Mawson and the AAE did not gain the lasting public recognition they deserved, even in Australia. Partly this was due to Mawson's own insistence that the AAE was about science, and not geographic "firsts" and glory, a view which set him apart from his contemporaries who were the last of the Edwardian heroic explorers. British explorers sold more newspapers than did Australian scientists. It is only in recent decades that the worth of Mawson's work and the extraordinary story of his sledge journey have received wide public recognition, to the point where Mawson has taken a rightful place in the popular mythology of exploration and Australian endeavour. 1.2 History of the site after the AAE After Mawson left Cape Denison in 1913, the site was not visited again until he returned in 1931 during the British, Australian and New Zealand Antarctic Research Expedition (BANZARE). Five members of that expedition, including Mawson, spent a night ashore on 5-6 January 1931, and a series of photographs were taken, including some of the interior of the main hut showing some pedestals of ice in the living and workshop huts, but generally showing the hut to be free of ice. This was a passing visit, the only "formal" remains being the attachment of a small timber plaque and proclamation to the mast of the AAE anemometer station on Anemometer Hill. This proclaimed British sovereignty over this area of Antarctica.