Northumberland House

Constructed of the wooden masts and spars from the wrecked whaling vessel McLellan, Northumberland House was intended as a supply depot for use by the members of the Franklin expedition, should they return to Beechey Island. It contained a dwelling, store, and smithy.

Here also are the remains of the twelve-ton yacht Mary, left several kilometres distant at Cape Spencer by another search vessel and hauled by the men of the North Star to Beechey Island.

Allen Young, Captain of the Pandora, visited Northumberland House in late August of 1875, 22 years after its completion, and described its state of repair:

"I found that the house had been stove in at the door and in both sides by the wind and bears, and almost everything light and movable either blown out or dragged out by bears, which had also torn up all the tops of the bales, and scattered the contents around for some distance. The house was nearly full of ice and snow, and frozen so hard that we could not move anything excepting with pickax and crowbar, and even then only the few things which were projecting above the surface. The tea chests were all broken open and most of their contents scattered about. Many of the beef casks had been eaten through the bilges, and the contents extracted. The whole place was a scene of confusion, and the kitchen a mere wreck... A cask of rum standing in the doorway intact was conclusive proof that neither Eskimo nor British sailors had entered that way. "(Young 1876:40-41)