Captain Scott's Antarctic expedition items auctioned

The collection included charts used in the voyage and photographs during the expedition

Artefacts from Captain Scott's ill-fated South Pole expedition have been auctioned, with some items selling for thousands of pounds more than estimated.

The items belonged to Francis Davies, who was onboard the Terra Nova between 1910 and 1913.

Mr Davies, from Plymouth, was a Royal Naval carpenter and shipwright.

One ocean chart went for £10,500, while a pair of snow goggles sold for £3,400 after an estimate of £400-£600.

Captain Robert Scott, from Devonport, died in March 1912, aged 43, along with four others on his doomed attempt to be the first to reach the South Pole.

A pair of snow goggles used by Mr Davies had an estimate of up to £600 but sold for £3,400

Mr Davies signed up to the three-year expedition in May 1910 at Poplar, London, after completing an apprenticeship at the Royal Naval Dockyard in Devonport.

The auction, which took place in Exeter, had 450 lots from the Davies collection, including letters, receipts and artefacts which helped Scott and his team organise and prepare for the Terra Nova expedition.

The items had previously remained in the Davies family.

Auctioneers said it was a unique sale of items from an "heroic age of exploration" and most sale prices exceeded pre-sale estimates.

The artefacts, including this pewter mustard pot with the expedition emblem, which sold for £2,100, date back to 1910

As well as the snow goggles, items which exceeded their estimates included a pewter mustard pot with the expedition emblem. It sold for £2,100 after an estimate of £700 to £900.

An "important 'Antarctic Ocean Sheet IV' chart with the plotted course for Terra Nova", estimated to be valued between £5,000 and £6,000, went for £10.500.

Two penguin eggs collected as samples by the 1910 expedition sold for £2,200 after an estimate of £200 to £300.

A photo of Davies in seal skins was bought for £1,700, despite only being estimated at £400 to £600.

The Terra Nova sailed on a three-year expedition to the Antarctic

Auctioneer Brian Goodison-Blanks said items from polar expeditions "generate a tremendous amount of interest because obviously they're from what people consider to be the golden age, or the heroic age of exploration, of Scott and Shackleton and suchlike."

He added: "They're very difficult to sort of put a value on because they're unique one-off pieces."

Mr Davies was credited with fixing a blocked hand pump which left the ship in danger of sinking in a severe storm.

A receipt for the wood bought to build the expedition huts which Mr Davies manufactured and constructed

He was vital in the successful manufacturing and construction of the huts which were used by the expedition, Mr Goodison-Blanks explained.

Mr Davies also "played a key part in maintaining the morale aboard the Terra Nova", as well as honouring the lives of friends who died by making a memorial cross which stands on Observation Hill in Antarctica.

He went on to serve around the world for the Royal Navy, Royal Research Ships and in World War Two and died in 1952.