Explore the Museum

The villa had comfortably furnished rooms for the manager and senior staff, complete with numerous house plants carefully tended by the steward. The members of Shackleton’s Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition stayed at Grytviken on their way south with Endurance. Expedition photographer Frank Hurley recalled that the new villa “..sported a billiard-table, piano, and real live geraniums blooming in the box windows. The dinner table was graced with spotless linen so unlike our four week old stain absorbers, and tastefully bedecked with a splendid display of blue and gold china-ware.”

History of the museum

After the final collapse of the whaling industry at South Georgia, factory operations finally ceased on the island in 1965. The story of the South Georgia Whaling Museum began in 1989 during an operation to clean up the abandoned whaling stations.

The idea of a Museum on South Georgia was first suggested in 1989. The original plan was to locate the Museum in the manager’s villa at Stromness station, however, Grytviken was eventually chosen as a more suitable site. Grytviken, being the site of Larsen's original whaling station that pioneered the Antarctic whaling industry and the location of Sir Ernest Shackleton’s grave and memorial.

It was decided that the Museum would be located at the manager's house, or "Villa", as it was known during the whaling days. The Villa was totally derelict when the project was launched, but in 1991 the first of the Museum's workers set about renovating it.

Pride of place in the front of the museum are the great cast iron trypots. These were found on the beach at Grytviken abandoned by explorers hunting seals in the 18 Century. These boilers, "gryter" in Norwegian, were what gave the name Grytviken to the cove, which means "Boiler Cove" in Norwegian.

The first tourist ship visited on 23 January 1992. Cruise ships had visited the site in previous years, but this was the first ship with visitors that entered the new museum. 480 tourists signed the museum visitor book between then and 5 March when the Museum team departed Grytviken.

There were just six small cruise ships in the 1992-3 summer season, but 2023-2024 saw 104 ships with over 15,000 tourists visiting Grytviken and the Museum.

From its humble early beginning, the South Georgia Museum continues to grow.

View the museum rooms on the clickable floor plan below

Being one of the remotest museums in the world we would like to show you some of the rooms so you can take a virtual tour.

Carr Maritime Gallery

The building was named in honour of Tim and Pauline Carr. The Carr Maritime Gallery is situated in a former workshop adjacent to the Museum. It was officially opened by HRH Princess Anne during her visit to Grytviken in March 2009.

Larsen

C A Larsen was the Norwegian founder of Grytviken, and a pioneer of whaling in the Southern Ocean. Named after him, this room has objects and archives relating to the early history of sealing and whaling on South Georgia.

Ringdal

This room houses a recreation of whaler’s accommodation on the island in the mid-1900s. Whalers were known to be very houseproud, and the room reflects the limited but clean and orderly space that they had.

Strand

South Georgia’s whaling stations were not just places where the great leviathans were dragged ashore and then processed. Skilled and inventive blacksmiths and engineers kept the stations running, and their work is recorded here.

Forge

The whaling stations were also largely self-sustaining industrial complexes where boilers and hulls could be mended, and blades and chain links forged.

Fullerton

Named after the Commissioner for South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, who supported and sanctioned the establishment of the museum, this room is devoted to the history of exploration and science on the island.

Allardyce

Named after a former Governor of the Falkland Islands who regulated the whaling industry, the Allardyce Room houses our collection of objects relating to the heyday of the whaling industry on South Georgia.

Bonner

Nigel Bonner, former Deputy Director of the British Antarctic Survey, established South Georgia Whaling Museum in 1992. His contribution is remembered in this room, which houses displays on the South Georgia Heritage Trust, the history of the building and the museum, and the discovery of the island.

Prince

The Prince Room houses our natural history collection. It is named after the late naturalist Peter Prince, who worked extensively on South Georgia.

Jarvis

The Jarvis Room displays information and artefacts relating to the administration of South Georgia, the British Antarctic Survey presence and the 1982 conflict.