The Norwegian Anglican Church, sometimes known as the Whalers Church, and as the Norwegian Lutheran Church (until 2013), and casually as the Grytviken Church, is a church in

Grytviken Grytviken ( ) is a Hamlet (place), hamlet on South Georgia in the South Atlantic. Formerly a whaling station, it was the largest settlement on the island. Grytviken is located at the head of King Edward Cove within the larger Cumberland East Bay, ...

, South Georgia, built in 1913. The church was part of the

Church of Norway The Church of Norway (, , , ) is an Lutheranism, evangelical Lutheran denomination of Protestant Christianity and by far the largest Christian church in Norway. Christianity became the state religion of Norway around 1020, and was established a ...

for a century, from 1913 to 2013. It was formally handed over to the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...

(national church of England) in 2013, and is now part of the

Anglican Communion The Anglican Communion is a Christian Full communion, communion consisting of the Church of England and other autocephalous national and regional churches in full communion. The archbishop of Canterbury in England acts as a focus of unity, ...

Diocese of the Falkland Islands The Parish of the Falkland Islands is an Extra-provincial Anglican churches, extra-provincial church in the Anglican Communion. In 1869, the "Diocese of the Falkland Isles" with jurisdiction over the rest of South America except for British Guian ...

History and architecture

The

Neo-Gothic Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic or neo-Gothic) is an architectural movement that after a gradual build-up beginning in the second half of the 17th century became a widespread movement in the first half of the 19th century ...

church was pre-built in

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

and erected in Grytviken by whalers led by

Carl Anton Larsen Carl Anton Larsen (7 August 1860 – 8 December 1924) was a Norwegian-born whaler and Antarctic explorer who made important contributions to the exploration of Antarctica, the most significant being the first discovery of fossils for which h ...

around 1912–1913. The church consists of a single

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...

leading to a small altar. A small library is attached to the side near the altar. Inside, worshippers (and now visitors) are seated on long wood benches. The floor's dark wood planks contrast with the white walls and ceiling. The church, one of the world's southernmost churches, was consecrated on Christmas Day in 1913. In 1922, a funeral service for

Sir Ernest Shackleton Sir Ernest Henry Shackleton (15 February 1874 – 5 January 1922) was an Anglo-Irish Antarctic explorer who led three British expeditions to the Antarctic. He was one of the principal figures of the period known as the Heroic Age of Antarc ...

was conducted in the church before his burial amongst 64 others in the church cemetery. The cemetery, located approximately to the south on the other end of Grytviken Harbour, also holds empty graves for whalers lost at sea.

Pastor

The church was led by Kristen Løken, from 1913 to 1914. Løken was born in 1885 in

Lillehammer Lillehammer () is a municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Gudbrandsdal. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Lillehammer. Some of the more notable villages in the munici ...

in Norway. He was made Pastor of South Georgia, and arrived in 1912 to take up his post. He was responsible for supervising the building of the church building, and left his church in 1914, and was the only pastor for this church. He died in 1975.

Grytviken Cemetery

The Grytviken Cemetery, associated with the church, is located about away to the south. It predates the church, first accepting whalers' graves before 1902. It holds 64 graves, including nine victims of a 1912 typhoid epidemic,

(1874–1922), the ashes of fellow polar explorer

Frank Wild John Robert Francis Wild (18 April 1873 – 19 August 1939) was an English sailor and explorer. He participated in five expeditions to Antarctica during the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration, for which he was awarded the Polar Medal ...

(1873–1939) which were interred in 2011, and Félix Artuso, an Argentinian submarine officer who was killed in the 1982 British recapture of South Georgia from Argentina.Marine killed Argentinian in Falklands war blunder
/ref>

Restoration and maintenance

In April 1982, during the

invasion of South Georgia The invasion of South Georgia, also known as the Battle of Grytviken or Operation Georgias, took place on 3 April 1982, when Argentine Navy forces seized control of the east coast of South Georgia after overpowering a small group of Royal Marin ...

by Argentinian military forces, members of a

British Antarctic Survey The British Antarctic Survey (BAS) is the United Kingdom's national polar research institute. It has a dual purpose, to conduct polar science, enabling better understanding of list of global issues, global issues, and to provide an active prese ...

team were invited by some

Royal Marines The Royal Marines provide the United Kingdom's amphibious warfare, amphibious special operations capable commando force, one of the :Fighting Arms of the Royal Navy, five fighting arms of the Royal Navy, a Company (military unit), company str ...

to take shelter in the church. After years of abandonment and weathering, the harsh elements of the region (the roof was damaged in 1994), the church was renovated by the keepers of

South Georgia Museum The South Georgia Museum is situated in Grytviken, near the administrative centre of the UK overseas territory of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands. Polar explorers Ernest Shackleton and Frank Wild are buried in Grytviken's graveyard. ...

and volunteers in 1996–1998, and now serves for occasional church services and marriage ceremonies.

References

External links