The Norwegian Church was a
church for Norwegian sailors originally located in
Newport, but later relocated to the
docklands area of
Swansea
Swansea ( ; ) is a coastal City status in the United Kingdom, city and the List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, second-largest city of Wales. It forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area, officially known as the City and County of ...
,
Wales
Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...
. It was a Grade II
listed building
In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...
.
History
The church building was originally located at
Newport Docks
Newport Docks is the collective name for a group of docks in the city of Newport, south-east Wales.
By the eighteenth century there were a number of wharves on the west shore of the River Usk; iron and coal were the principal outward traffic. Th ...
. The building consists of a
Seaman
Seaman may refer to:
* Sailor, a member of a marine watercraft's crew
* Seaman (rank), a military rank in some navies
* Seaman (name) (including a list of people with the name)
* ''Seaman'' (video game), a 1999 simulation video game for the Seg ...
’s
Mission
Mission (from Latin 'the act of sending out'), Missions or The Mission may refer to:
Geography Australia
*Mission River (Queensland)
Canada
*Mission, British Columbia, a district municipality
* Mission, Calgary, Alberta, a neighbourhood
* ...
to the west end and a single
gothic church
Church may refer to:
Religion
* Church (building), a place/building for Christian religious activities and praying
* Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination
* Church service, a formalized period of Christian comm ...
to the east end. It was originally built as a place of worship for
Norwegian sailors when they visited the UK. It was relocated from Newport to Swansea in 1910 at a site directly opposite the Sainsbury's supermarket on the
River Tawe
The River Tawe (; ) is a long river in South Wales. Its headwaters flow initially east from its source below Llyn y Fan Fawr south of Glasfynydd Forest, Moel Feity in the Black Mountain (range), Black Mountains, the westernmost range of the ...
.
In 1966 the Norwegian Seamen's Mission in
Bergen
Bergen (, ) is a city and municipalities of Norway, municipality in Vestland county on the Western Norway, west coast of Norway. Bergen is the list of towns and cities in Norway, second-largest city in Norway after the capital Oslo.
By May 20 ...
told the last minister, Pastor Somerset, to abandon the Mission and return to Norway. However, a Norwegian who had settled in Swansea, Eric Benneche, wrote to the
Bishop of Bergen
The Catholic Diocese of Bergen or Diocese of Bjørgvin in Norway existed from the eleventh century to the Protestant Reformation (1537), offering to run the church from the expatriate community's own resources. Permission was granted and the Bishop visited the church in person to present them with the key. Benneche was also allowed to officiate as a lay pastor at services, christenings, weddings and funerals.
Benneche was followed, in 1968, by the Reverend Vivian James (1927–2011), who kept the church going for a further thirty years. He had been a missionary to
Lapland, Norway from 1953 to 1967 and preached in both English and
Norwegian. When Pastor James retired in 1998 the church was the last working Seamen's Mission Church. It closed in 1998.
With the redevelopment of the district, the building had to be relocated again. In 2004 the building was dismantled and reassembled next to Swansea's Prince of Wales dock where it later reopened as a jewellery gallery, and later as a nursery.
It sits alongside two other historic listed buildings – the Ice House and J Shed.
See also
*
Norwegian Church, Cardiff
The Norwegian Church Arts Centre () is a point of cultural and historical interest located in Cardiff Bay (Tiger Bay), Wales. It was a Lutheran Church, consecrated in 1868. Under the patronage of The Norwegian Seamen's Mission it provided home ...
References
{{reflist
Explore Gower: Norwegian Church
Grade II listed churches in Swansea
Tourist attractions in Swansea
Norwegian diaspora in Europe
Relocated buildings and structures in Wales