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14th January 09 - Grytviken

Grytviken (Swedish for 'Pot Cove') is the principal settlement in the United Kingdom territory of South Georgia in the South Atlantic. It was so named by a 1902 Swedish surveyor who found old English try pots used to render seal oil at the site.

The settlement at Grytviken was established on November 16, 1904, by the Norwegian sea captain Carl Anton Larsen as a whaling station.

In 1922, Shackelton had died unexpectedly from a heart attack at sea at the beginning of another Antarctic expedition, and his widow chose Grytviken as his final resting place. His grave is located south of Grytviken, alongside those of the whalers who died on the island.

The station's church is the only building which retains its original purpose, and is still used occasionally for services. There have been several marriages in Grytviken, with the first one being registered on 24 February 1932, between A.G.N. Jones and Vera Riches.

The museum occupies the renovated and converted Manager's Villa built in 1916, and used as a residence for the manager of the Grytviken whaling base and his family, until the base closed in 1964. The South Georgia Museum was established in 1992 as a specialised whaling museum, subsequently expanding its expositions to include all aspects of the discovery of the island, sealing industry, maritime and natural history.

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