Terra Nova

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Lore & Background

The Terra Nova is best known as the ship that carried Captain Robert Falcon Scott on his ill-fated Antarctic expedition. At the Pierhead Building in Cardiff Bay, visitors can see the original binnacle from that vessel — the stand that held the ship's compass. This artefact is part of a larger exhibition that opened on 1 March 2010, when the building re-opened as a Welsh history museum. Alongside the binnacle, the museum displays the Pennal Letter sent by Owain Glyndŵr, Prince of Wales, to Charles VI of France in 1406, and an audio-visual display of Welsh heroes including former prime minister David Lloyd George, fashion designer Laura Ashley, and the late rugby player and broadcaster Ray Gravell. The museum's films and exhibits trace Cardiff Bay's history from the Neolithic era, through the industrial boom when iron ore and coal exports made Cardiff one of the busiest ports in the world, to the decline of the coal trade in the 1920s and the port's regeneration at the close of the 20th century.

In Their Own Story

The binnacle from the Terra Nova now stands in the Pierhead Building, a Grade I listed structure built in 1897 as the headquarters for the Bute Dock Company. The building's clock tower, unofficially known as 'Baby Big Ben' or the 'Big Ben of Wales', overlooks the bay where ships once carried Welsh coal to the world. Inside, the binnacle shares space with the Pennal Letter of 1406 and a display of Welsh heroes. The museum's exhibits tell how railways from 1841 transformed transport, moving goods in an hour that would have taken a month by canal, and how the collapse of coal demand in the 1920s and the decline of container shipping from the 1950s led to Cardiff Bay's difficult period, ending with its regeneration at the century's close.

Reader's Guide

The Terra Nova binnacle is one of the key artefacts on display at the Pierhead Building in Cardiff Bay, which re-opened on 1 March 2010 as a Welsh history museum and exhibition. The building itself is part of the estate of the Senedd (Welsh Parliament), which also includes the Senedd building and Tŷ Hywel. Visitors can explore films and exhibits covering Welsh history from the Neolithic era to the present, including the impact of the railways from 1841 and the rise and fall of Cardiff as a major port. The building's architecture features a French-Gothic Renaissance theme with hexagonal chimneys, carved friezes, gargoyles, and a distinctive clock tower, finished in glazed terracotta blocks supplied by J. C. Edwards & Co. of Acrefair. The building is Grade I listed for its role in the development of the docks, Cardiff, and industrial Wales.

Did You Know?

• The Terra Nova's original binnacle is on display at the Pierhead Building in Cardiff Bay.
• The Pierhead Building was built in 1897 as the headquarters for the Bute Dock Company.
• The building's clock is unofficially known as 'Baby Big Ben' or the 'Big Ben of Wales'.
• The original 1897 clock mechanism was removed in 1973 and sold to an American collector, but was returned to Cardiff in 2005 and restored in 2011.
• The building's coat of arms bears the motto 'Wrth ddŵr a thân' ('by water and fire'), referencing the steam power that transformed Wales.