St Olaf's Church in

Wasdale Head Wasdale Head is a scattered agricultural hamlet in the Lake District National Park in Cumbria, England. Wasdale Head claims to be home of the highest mountain (Scafell Pike), deepest lake (Wastwater), smallest church and biggest liar in E ...

Cumbria Cumbria ( ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in North West England, bordering Scotland. The county and Cumbria County Council, its local government, came into existence in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972. Cumb ...

, is

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

's smallest parish church. The earliest record of the church is from 1550, though it probably predates this, and it is likely that there was an earlier church on this site.

History

The church was dedicated to

St Olaf Olaf II Haraldsson ( – 29 July 1030), later known as Saint Olaf (and traditionally as St. Olave), was King of Norway from 1015 to 1028. Son of Harald Grenske, a petty king in Vestfold, Norway, he was posthumously given the title ''Rex Perpet ...

in 1977, before which it had no name. The rector at that time, the Reverend Raymond Bowers, had friends in

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

, and it was he who suggested the name. A guide to the church and the

Wasdale Wasdale () is a valley and civil parish in the western part of the Lake District National Park in Cumbria, England. The River Irt flows through the valley to its estuary at Ravenglass. A large part of the main valley floor is occupied by Wastwa ...

valley, ''The Vikings: Wasdale Head and Their Church'', is available in the Barn Door Shop at Wasdale Head. The church has long been associated with British

climbers Climber may refer to: *Climber, a participant in the activity of climbing *Climber, general name for a vine *Climber, or climbing specialist, a road bicycle racer who can ride especially well on highly inclined roads * Climber (BEAM), a robot that ...

. The south window has a small pane within it with an etching of Napes Needle on

Great Gable Great Gable is a mountain in the Lake District, United Kingdom. It is named after its appearance as a pyramid from Wasdale, though it is dome-shaped from most other directions. It is one of the most popular of the Lakeland fells, and there are ...

. A well-attended silence is kept every year on

Remembrance Sunday Remembrance Sunday is held in the United Kingdom as a day to commemorate the contribution of British and Commonwealth military and civilian servicemen and women in the two World Wars and later conflicts. It is held on the second Sunday in Nov ...

at 11 am. The church is recorded in the

National Heritage List for England The National Heritage List for England (NHLE) is England's official database of protected heritage assets. It includes details of all English listed buildings, scheduled monuments, register of historic parks and gardens, protected shipwrecks, an ...

as a designated Grade II

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

. The parish of Wasdale Head is within the Calder deanery of the

Diocese of Carlisle The Diocese of Carlisle was created in 11 April 1132 by Henry I out of part of the Diocese of Durham, although many people of Cumbric descent in the area looked to Glasgow for spiritual leadership. The first bishop was Æthelwold, who was the ki ...

. The church is one of three in the Parish of Gosforth & Wasdale, the other two being

St Mary's Church, Gosforth St Mary's Church in the village of Gosforth, Cumbria, Gosforth, Cumbria, England, is an active Anglican parish church in the deanery of Calder, the archdeaconry of West Cumberland, and the diocese of Carlisle. Its benefice#Church of England, be ...

and St Michael & All Angels,

Nether Wasdale Nether Wasdale is a village in Cumbria, England, located in the Wasdale valley, near the River Irt and just over a mile to the west of the Wastwater lake. Notable features The main church in Nether Wasdale is St Michaels and All Angels Church ...

. The Rector is John Riley, assisted by his ordained wife, Lesley, and curate Alison. The churchwardens in 2020 are Andrew Lopez and Hugh Foulerton.

Visitor information

The church is usually open to visitors each day, and attracts many thousands of visitors each year from around the globe: in 2019 12,500 visitors from 43 countries and 7 of the 8 continents – nobody is recorded as visiting from Antarctica! As well as a Visitors Book at the back of the church, a Prayer Book is kept near the front where Prayer Requests may be written. The Book is read regularly and acknowledged by ministers, people and situations are then prayed for. These are usually also included at the next Service. Services are usually held at 11.30am on the 2nd and 4th Sundays of each month, feathering in with services at

Church (at the other end of the Lake) on the 1st and 3rd Sundays. In 2020 public services were suspended due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

, and all three churches in the parish were closed until the restrictions were lifted. (Visitor information from St Olaf's visitors book)

References

External links

Wasdale – St Olaf's Church at Visit Cumbria
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Olaf Church Wasdale Church of England church buildings in Cumbria Grade II listed churches in Cumbria Diocese of Carlisle

History

Visitor information

See also

References

External links