The Polar Museum

Scott Polar Research Institute
Lensfield Road
Cambridge
Cambridgeshire
CB2 1ER
England

Website

Our website

www.spri.cam.ac.uk/museum

E-mail

Telephone

General enquiries

01223 336540

Education & Outreach Officer

01223 336562

Shop

01223 336548

Fax

01223 336549

All information is supplied by the venues or providers themselves and every effort is made to ensure it is correct. Please remember to double check opening hours with the venue concerned before making a special visit.

The Scott Polar Research Institute was established in 1920 by Frank Debenham as a memorial to Scott and his companions. Debenham was a geologist on Captain Scott’s British Antarctic (Terra Nova) Expedition 1910-13. He had the idea of establishing a research centre as a fitting tribute to the national hero and to ensure that Scott’s pioneering scientific work would continue.

Located in a Grade 2 listed building dating from 1934, the Institute developed as a centre for polar explorers to share information, leading to the deposit of the Polar Museum's core collections.

In 2010 the renovated Polar Museum opened its doors to the public. It now displays more of its collections than before, offering visitors the chance to experience the story of Earth’s coldest, driest, highest and deadliest places.

The new displays are based on the theme of exploration into science, emphasising both the history of exploration of the Arctic and Antarctic and the wider environmental significance of the poles in a changing world.

Art and artefacts from the people who call the Arctic home are displayed alongside the last letters of Captain Scott and iconic Antarctic photographs by Herbert Ponting. A series of exhibits shows how science is undertaken in the harsh conditions of the polar regions.

As well as these permanent exhibits, the Museum regularly hosts special exhibitions and shows of modern polar art. A great range of polar-related material, including books, toys and posters, is available from the Museum Shop and may also be ordered online. The Institute has an active Friends organisation and welcomes volunteers.

Venue Type:

Museum, Library, Archive

Opening hours

Museum opening times: 1000-1600pm (Tues to Sat), except some public and university holidays, and occasional other days, e.g. Bank Holiday weekends, between Christmas and New Year.

The Polar Museum welcomes school and other groups of all ages - please book in advance. Please note that the museum is small and we therefore ask that you limit groups to 24.

The Museum is closed Sun-Mon.

Admission charges

Admission free

General services and facilities

Brochure or leaflet available with directions to museum
Information point provided
Pre-booking service for groups
Shop
Toilets

Children and families

Events and resources for children and families

Disability access

Events/teaching/resources for people with disabilities
Induction loops in exhibition spaces
Induction loops in lecture theatres
Large print information and/or interpretation
Touch exhibits
Toilets for disabled
Wheelchair access to all public areas

Schools services and facilities

Member of staff available with responsibility for education
Primary school education service available
Printed/audio-visual information available for schools
Secondary school education service available
Education facilities available

Research and adult learning

Academic publications and resources available
Adult lectures and courses held
Loan service
Teaching/resources available for HE/FE students
Library
Mail order service available
Research facilities for academics
Study facilities

Commercial and hire services

Meeting room available

Additional info

Our library and archives are open to the public by appointment.

We have been shortlisted for a European Museum of the Year Award 2012.

Scott Polar Research Institute
Lensfield Road
Cambridge
Cambridgeshire
CB2 1ER
England

Website

Our website

www.spri.cam.ac.uk/museum

E-mail

General information

enquiries@spri.cam.ac.uk

Keeper

museum@spri.cam.ac.uk

Museum Shop

shop@spri.cam.ac.uk

Telephone

General enquiries

01223 336540

Education & Outreach Officer

01223 336562

Shop

01223 336548

Fax

01223 336549

The Museum holds an unrivalled collection of artifacts, paintings, drawings, photographs (including cinematographic film, lantern slides, and Daguerreotypes), and other material relating to polar exploration, history and science.
The museum displays feature items from Scott's last expedition, including farewell letters to friends and family, diaries, the sleeping bag of Captain Oates, and the black flag left by Amundsen. The museum also houses displays on Arctic and Antarctic expeditions, scientific instruments and equipment from the 'heroic age' of exploration, the sledges and skis used by Scott, Shackleton and other explorers, geological specimens, modern exploration equipment and clothing, polar artworks and an example of an Emperor penguin.
Items not on display may be viewed by prior arrangement.

Collection details

Archives, Coins and Medals, Costume and Textiles, Film and Media, Land Transport, Maritime, Natural Sciences, Personalities, Photography, Science and Technology, Social History

Key artists and exhibits

Captain Robert Falcon Scott
Captain Lawrence Oates
Roald Amundsen
Sir Ernest Shackleton
British Graham Land Expedition
Northwest Passage
Sir John Franklin
Sledges and skis
Modern exploration equipment and clothing
Emperor penguin
Arctic
Antarctic
North Pole
South Pole
Inuit
Scrimshaw

Collections services

Object identification and/or written enquiry service
Public access available to collections information
Specialist publications on collections available
Object study facilities available (enquire in advance)

Scott Polar Research Institute
Lensfield Road
Cambridge
Cambridgeshire
CB2 1ER
England

Website

Our website

www.spri.cam.ac.uk/museum

E-mail

General information

enquiries@spri.cam.ac.uk

Keeper

museum@spri.cam.ac.uk

Museum Shop

shop@spri.cam.ac.uk

Telephone

General enquiries

01223 336540

Education & Outreach Officer

01223 336562

Shop

01223 336548

Fax

01223 336549

Exhibition details are listed below, you may need to scroll down to see them all.

These Rough Notes: Captain Scott's Last Expedition

7 December 2011 — 5 May 2012 *on now

Manuscripts and photographs from the British Antarctic (Terra Nova) Expedition 1910-13.
The story of the Terra Nova expedition, explored through the letters, diaries and photographs of its members, is being told in this once-in-a-lifetime exhibition at the Polar Museum. The exhibition tells the full story of the fateful Terra Nova expedition, not just through the famous journals and letters of Scott, Bowers, Evans, Oates and Wilson, who perished on their way back from the Pole, but through other members of the ship's crew and shore party.

It not only highlights the 'Worst Journey in the World' – the winter journey to collect eggs from the Emperor penguin colony at Cape Crozier – but also the largely forgotten 'Northern Party' – six men stranded for 21 months when the ship could not reach them through the heavy pack ice and forced to shelter from the brutal Antarctic winter in a cave dug into the snow.

Suitable for

Any age

Where

Special Exhibiton Gallery, Polar Museum

Website

http://www.spri.cam.ac.uk/museum/exhibitions/theseroughnotes/index.html

Scott Polar Research Institute
Lensfield Road
Cambridge
Cambridgeshire
CB2 1ER
England

Website

Our website

www.spri.cam.ac.uk/museum

E-mail

General information

enquiries@spri.cam.ac.uk

Keeper

museum@spri.cam.ac.uk

Museum Shop

shop@spri.cam.ac.uk

Telephone

General enquiries

01223 336540

Education & Outreach Officer

01223 336562

Shop

01223 336548

Fax

01223 336549

Events details are listed below. You may need to scroll down or click on headers to see them all. For events that don't have a specific date see the 'Resources' tab above.

The love letters of Con and Kathleen Scott

14 February 2012

The correspondence between Captain Robert Falcon Scott and his wife Kathleen tells of the courtship and marriage and their life during the planning of Scott's fateful last expedition to the South Pole. This selection of hitherto unpublished letters vividly brings to life the personalities of these two extraordinary people, caught up in events which have captured the public imagination for the past hundred years.

Suitable for

When

7:30-8:45pm

Where

Lecture Theatre, Scott Polar Research Institute

Admission

Tickets £8.50 / £7 (concessions)

Website

http://www.spri.cam.ac.uk/museum/events/

"Last Words": an evening of poetry and songs inspired by Captain Scott's British Antarctic Expedition

27 March 2012

In a unique collaboration for the centenary of Captain Robert Falcon Scott's last expedition, poet Kiran Millwood Hargrave and singer/songwriter Jake Wilson join forces for an evening of new works inspired by the story of Scott and his companions.