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Polar Museums directory
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Cheltenham Art Gallery and Museum
| Address: | Clarence St., Cheltenham, Gloucs GL50 3JT |
| Telephone: | +44-1242-237431 |
| Fax: | +44-1242-262334 |
| Year of foundation: | 1899 |
| Collections: | Houses paintings and other memorabilia relating to E.A. Wilson, who reached the South Pole with Scott on 17 January 1912 and died on the return journey. |
Discovery Point
| Website: | www.rrs-discovery.co.uk |
| Address: | Dundee Heritage Ltd., Discovery Quay, Dundee DD1 4XA |
| Telephone: | +44-1382-201245 |
| Fax: | +44-1382-225891 |
| Year of foundation: | 1993 |
| Collections: | Visitor centre focused on RRS <em>Discovery</em>, the polar research ship built for Scott's first Antarctic expedition (1901-04), and used subsequently during the Discovery Investigations (1925-27) and by BANZARE (1929-31). <em>Discovery</em> was built in Dundee and returned there in 1986. |
Dundee Art Galleries and Museums
| Address: | Albert Square, Dundee DD1 1DA |
| Telephone: | +44-1382-432020 |
| Fax: | +44-1382-432052 |
| Collections: | The Whaling Gallery at Broughty Castle illustrates historical aspects of the whaling industry up to the present day, with particular emphasis given to the Arctic fishery. Small collection of whaling logbooks and some Inuit artefacts. Photographic archive including whaling and Inuit material |
| Publications: | <em>Cultures of the World: the ethnographic collections of Dundee Art Galleries and Museums</em> (1994) |
Marischal Museum
| Website: | www.abdn.ac.uk/marischal_museum |
| Address: | Marischal College University of Aberdeen Broad Street Aberdeen AB10 1YS |
| E-mail: | museum@abdn.ac.uk |
| Telephone: | +44 (0)1224 274301 |
| Fax: | +44 (0)1224 274302 |
| Year of foundation: | 1786 |
| Collections: | Ethnographic collections: Arctic North America / Greenland - principally Inuit. Including c. 1720 Greenlandic kayak. |
Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology
| Website: | www.maa.cam.ac.uk |
| Address: | University of Cambridge, Downing St., Cambridge CB2 3DZ |
| Telephone: | +44-1223-333516 |
| Fax: | +44-1223-333503 |
| Year of foundation: | 1884 |
| Collections: | Sizeable collection with Greenland and Canada well-represented. Much of the Arctic material was collected by the Wordie Arctic Expeditions (1934-37) and British Arctic Air Route Expedition (1930-31) or obtained through exchanges with the National Museum of Copenhagen. Selected material is displayed in both the archaeological and anthropological galleries. The research collections may be made available by prior written appointment. |
Museum of Mankind (Ethnography Department of the British Museum)
| Website: | www.museumofman.org |
| Address: | 6 Burlington Gardens, London W1X 2EX |
| Telephone: | +44-171-323-8043 |
| Fax: | +44-171-323-8013 |
| Year of foundation: | 1753 |
| Collections: | Extensive Arctic collection including material obtained during the voyages of James Cook (1776-80), John Ross (1818), F.W. Beechey (1825-28), and the Franklin Search expeditions (1847-1859). The major collections are the Sloane Collection (1753), the Cook Collection (1780), the Belcher Collection (1842 and 1872) and the Barrow Collection (1855). More recently acquired material relates to Alaska and Nunavut. There are no current diplays but a new North American Gallery is planned to open in 1997 at the British Museum. Library |
| Publications: | Occasional catalogues. |
National Maritime Museum (NMM)
| Website: | www.nmm.ac.uk |
| Address: | Greenwich, London SE1O 9NF |
| Telephone: | +44-181-858-4422 |
| Fax: | +44-181-312-6632 |
| Year of foundation: | 1934 |
| Collections: | Excellent collections and displays for British maritime history, both naval and merchant, including many items of polar interest. Over 4,000 oil paintings including depictions of polar exploration from Barents (1594-97) onwards. The library and archives are the world's largest in their field |
| Publications: | <em>Catalogue of the Library</em> (1968-); <em>Concise catalogue of oil paintings in the National Maritime Museum</em>; <em>Guide to the historic photographs collection of the National Maritime Museum</em> (Stonham, 1994); <em>Guide to the manuscripts in the National Maritime Museum</em> (Knight 1977, 1980); <em>Maritime Monographs and Reports</em> (1970-) |
National Museum of Scotland
| Website: | www.nms.ac.uk |
| Address: | Chambers St., Edinburgh EH1 1JF |
| Telephone: | +44-131-225-7534 |
| Fax: | +44-131-220-4819 |
| Year of foundation: | 1986 [created by merger of National Museum of Antiquities (1780) with Royal Scottish Museum (1854)] |
| Collections: | In addition to nineteenth century artefacts from Arctic and subarctic America, Greenland and Siberia, the major collections of polar interest are those of William Speirs Bruce, whose papers and specimens were deposited here when the Scottish Oceanographical Laboratory was disbanded in 1921. No polar items are currently on display but all stored collections are accessible on appointment |
| Publications: | <em>A catalogue of Northern Athapaskan Indian artifacts in the collection of the Royal Scottish Museum</em> (Idiens, 1979); <em>Manuscripts in the Royal Scottish Museum, Edinburgh, part 2: William S. Bruce papers and diary of A. Forbes Mackay</em> (Pitman, 1982); <em>Polar Scots: Scottish explorers in the Arctic and Antarctic</em> (Bunyan, 1986) |
Natural History Museum
| Website: | www.nhm.ac.uk |
| Address: | Cromwell Rd., South Kensington, London SW7 5BD |
| E-mail: | library@nhm.ac.uk |
| Telephone: | +44-171-938-9191 |
| Fax: | +44-171-938-9290 |
| Year of foundation: | 1881 |
| Collections: | Displays illustrating marine and terrestrial polar species. Extensive polar collections from many expeditions. Library |
| Publications: | <em>Bulletin</em> [separate series for <em>Botany</em> (1951-); <em>Entomology</em>; <em>Geology</em>; and <em>Zoology</em>)]; <em>Catalogue of manuscripts and drawings in the General Library of the Natural History Museum</em> (Thackray, 1995); <em>Catalogue of portraits, paintings and sculptures at the Natural History Museum</em> (Thackray, 1995); <em>The Challenger expedition, 1872-76: a visual index</em> (Brunton, 1994); <em>Historical Studies of the Life and Earth Sciences</em> (1992-) |
Oates Memorial Library and Museum
| Address: | The Wakes, Selborne, Alton, Hampshire |
| Telephone: | +44-1420-511275 |
| Year of foundation: | 1954 |
| Collections: | Housed jointly with the Gilbert White Museum. Collections and displays include materials relating to L.E.G. Oates, who reached the South Pole with Scott on 17 January 1912 and died on the return journey. |
Pitt Rivers Museum
| Website: | www.prm.ox.ac.uk |
| Address: | University of Oxford, Parks Rd., Oxford OX1 3PP |
| E-mail: | prm@prm.ox.ac.uk |
| Telephone: | +44-1865-270927 |
| Fax: | +44-1865-270943 |
| Year of foundation: | 1884 |
| Collections: | Extensive ethnographic collections from Alaska, Greenland and Siberia, much 19th century. Greenland collections include kayaks, dogs sleds and costumes. Library |
| Publications: | <em>Eskimos of Northwest Alaska in the early nineteenth century based on the Beechey and Belcher Collections and records compiled during the voyage of H.M.S. Blossom to Northwest Alaska in 1826 and 1827</em> (Bockstoce 1977) |
Scott Polar Research Institute. The Polar Museum.
| Website: | www.spri.cam.ac.uk/museum |
| Address: | University of Cambridge, Lensfield Rd., Cambridge CB2 1ER |
| E-mail: | museum@spri.cam.ac.uk |
| Telephone: | +44-1223-336540 |
| Fax: | +44-1223-336549 |
| Year of foundation: | 1920 |
| Collections: | The Polar Museum is currently closed for refurbishment until 1 June 2010. It houses permanent exhibits relating to Arctic peoples, British exploration of the Arctic (particularly Franklin's Last Expedition and the Franklin Searches) and the Antarctic (Scott, Shackleton, Bruce, British Graham Land), as well as displays on polar science, Inuit sculpture and scrimshaw. Entry is free. For further information, please see the website. The associated polar library and archives are accessible by appointment. |
Stromness Museum
| Website: | www.aboutbritain.com/StromnessMuseum.htm |
| Address: | 52 Alfred St., Stromness, Orkney Islands, Scotland |
| Telephone: | +44-1856-850025 |
| Year of foundation: | 1837 |
| Collections: | Exhibitions depicting the strong links between Orkney and Hudson Bay, Arctic whaling, and the Moravian Mission to Labrador. The collections including whaling hunting tools, scrimshaw, Eskimo and Indian artefacts, and memorabilia of John Rae including his Halkett Air Boat |
| Publications: | <em>The ice-bound whalers</em> (Troup, 1987) |
Town Docks Museum
| Address: | Queen Victoria Square, Kingston-upon-Hull, North Humberside HU1 3DX |
| Telephone: | +44-1482-222737 |
| Fax: | +44-1482-593710 |
| Year of foundation: | 1912 |
| Collections: | Artefacts, documents, paintings, hunting equipment, personal belongings relating to Arctic whaling, including Eskimo material brought to Hull from Greenland. The archives includes whaling logbooks for voyages in Arctic waters |
| Publications: | <em>Hull whaling: an Arctic enterprise</em> (Credland, 1995) |
Whitby Museum
| Website: | www.durain.demon.co.uk |
| Address: | Pannett Park, Whitby YO21 1RE, North Yorkshire |
| Telephone: | +44-1947-602908 |
| Year of foundation: | 1823 |
| Collections: | Displays relating to James Cook, William Scoresby Sr and Jr, and the whaling industry. Includes instruments designed by Scoresby Jr for Arctic research, also logbooks and papers for both Scoresbys |
| Publications: | Monographs |