The £3m race to save polar explorer Shackleton's villa

Work is under way on a South Atlantic island to preserve a key building in the story of polar explorer Ernest Shackleton.

Shackleton famously reached the whaling station of Stromness on South Georgia in 1916 after spending 18 months stranded on Antarctica with his crew.

The now-dilapidated Stromness Manager's Villa was used as a base by Shackleton while he orchestrated the rescue of his men.

The Dundee-based South Georgia Heritage Trust have been working to stabilise the structure, with plans to create a digital "twin" of the building for people around the world to see it.

A 2022 survey found the building was very close to collapse.

Alison Neil, chief executive of the South Georgia Heritage Trust, said: "The reason for that is rotting timbers.

"This is an old-fashioned version of a flat-pack house.

"They would've been brought down from Norway on ships and then assembled on the island."

The trust raised more than £3m to send a team to South Georgia.

They arrived in October and have been working on stabilising the structure.

Alison said: "It's in the middle of a whaling station that's full of asbestos, dangerous debris, and is not accessible to the public.

"Our plan is not to open it up to the public, our plan is to maintain it for the future."

Shackleton's extraordinary story of survival has fascinated and inspired people for more than a century.

His most famous mission was his plan to cross Antarctica through the South Pole on board his ship The Endurance.

In 1915, The Endurance became trapped in ice, and his crew abandoned ship, crossing onto floating ice, where they decided they were going to live until they could be saved.

In April 1916, Shackleton took five crew members in a small boat in search of help for the others. They travelled over 807 miles (1,300km) of ocean before reaching the island of South Georgia.

Leaving three of the men behind, Shackleton, Frank Worsley and Tom Crean trekked across the island for three days until they reached Stromness whaling station.

Alison said the men made it to the villa in a dishevelled state.

She said: "No-one recognised them, they must've looked terrifying.

"They knocked on the door of the villa and famously the whaling manager opened the door and said, 'who the hell are you?'

"Shackleton allegedly said: 'My name is Shackleton'."

It was the men's first contact with the outside world for 17 months.

Shackleton, Worsley and Crean were invited in to the villa where they had a hot meal and a bath, before immediately starting the rescue of the rest of their crew with the help of the whalers.

Alison said: "That's a really important part of The Endurance story and it effectively is the next chapter on from the sinking of the vessel."

In the coming weeks, digital specialists will go to South Georgia to scan the structure.

Alison said: "They're going to capture everything that lets us decide, at some point, how we're going to make this accessible to people.

"It will definitely be available on our website, for example.

"But we might also want to create a version where people can put a headset on and actually experience walking in to the room as it would've been in 1916."

Alison said that "heritage shouldn't be a privilege."

She said: "You don't want it to just be something that inspires the people that can afford to come to an island.

"So many people are really fascinated by the story of Shackleton and the Endurance.

"It would be great to be able to tell everyone around the world who is keen on this story, this chapter.

"The most effective way to do that is to let them experience it for themselves through a digital version."

This season, 100 ships are expected to visit South Georgia, bringing around 18,000 visitors.

Shetlander Helen Balfour is the assistant curator at the South Georgia Museum in Grytviken, one of the island's former whaling stations.

She said she sees a lot of people interested in Shackleton at the museum.

"People are interested in the wildlife, but actually there's a lot of people who want to come to South Georgia to pay their respects to him."

Shackleton died on board his ship, Quest, in 1922 and was buried in Grytviken.

Helen said: "People want to come to toast 'The Boss' and it's something that a lot of the ships will make sure they schedule in to their time in South Georgia.

"I think people are really inspired by his leadership and his ability to get through anything.

"I think people are really intrigued by his expeditions and how he managed to keep going in the face of adversity."