Norwegian Church Arts Centre, Butetown, Cardiff

History

1992 reconstruction of Norwegian Seaman’s Church, incorporating materials from the original building which stood nearby from 1868 to 1987.

The Church of Norway established its Sjømannsmisjonen (Seamen’s Mission) in 1864 to answer domestic concerns about the wellbeing of sailors in Norway’s Merchant Navy, which had rapidly grown into the world’s third largest over the previous decade. Cardiff was a key port in the world economy due to coal exports and an importer of Scandinavian timber for use as pit props in the mines, so it was an early target for the missionaries and became the site of their first purpose-built church. Pastor Lars Oftedal (1838-1900) arrived in 1866 and conducted services aboard ships initially, but in the year the church was built he was replaced by Pastor Carl Herman Lunde (1841-1932). The Cardiff harbour authorities required the church be a temporary structure that could easily be moved if required, and a timber frame with corrugated iron panels for the roof and cladding were duly shipped over from Norway. In the event the ’Iron Church’ stood on the same spot northeast of the Bute West Dock (now the Roald Dahl Plass) for over a hundred years, although the modular building was enlarged and altered several times, including the addition of a small bell tower in 1885. It took its final shape, on which the replica is based, in 1889. As well as religious services the church contained a reading room where sailors could read Norwegian papers and relax, which also operated as a post office. Many sailors settled locally and more Norwegians arrived in the city during the second world war, when the Norwegian Free Navy and Government-in-exile were both based in the UK.

With the end of the war and the continuing decline in production of Welsh anthracite coal, there were fewer Norwegians in Cardiff and in 1959 the building was transferred to the Lutheran Council of Great Britain to serve a declining community of mostly German sailors. The church was deconsecrated in 1974 and began to deteriorate. In 1987 the newly formed Cardiff Bay Development Corporation proposed to demolish the rusting building which was in the way of a planned road, prompting the formation of the Norwegian Church Preservation Trust, which had the church taken down and put in storage to be rebuilt on a new site as soon as possible. The Trust’s first president was the author Roald Dahl (1916-1990) who had been baptised in the church, and its patrons included James Callaghan (1912-2005) and Rhodri Morgan (1939-2017). Trustees included Terje Inderhaug, a Norwegian student studying in Cardiff who organised fund raising in Norway to rescue the church, and former Cardiff Planning Officer Ewart Parkinson (1927-2015) who led efforts to secure a new site to rebuild the church.

After the Development Corporation refused a site near the graving docks an alternative site was found on the other side of the bay, though the landowner required the Church to be reclad in timber rather than corrugated iron. The timber frame of the original building was found to have deteriorated whilst in storage, so a new timber frame and timber cladding were provided for free by firms in Norway. The sheet steel roof was also a gift to the trust by Cardiff-based company Euroclad. The architect for the reconstruction was Marc Lloyd-Davies and the church was officially re-opened on 8 April 1992 by Norwegian Princess Märtha Louise. The building would henceforth operate as an arts centre hosting cultural events rather than a religious building, with the goal of fostering friendship between the peoples of Wales and Norway.

Exterior

Small building in the rural gothic style typical of village churches in Norway. T-shaped with intersecting roof, comprising gabled east-west range, with shorter range to south with canted end. The tower stands on the west side at the join of the two axes. Horizontal ship lap timber cladding painted white with door and window frames picked out in black, under a black metal roof. Black brick base incorporating an inscribed foundation stone lain by Dr Ole Dramdal (head of Hordaland County Council) in 1991. 3 pointed arched doorways with timber doors, one in north elevation onto an exterior decking area (which was donated by Hordaland County Council in 2011), another with steps up and a gabled porch canopy in the south face of the bell tower and finally the main visitor entrance on the east side with gabled porch canopy, steps up and accessibility ramp to the left. Opposing simple seven-circled rose windows in the two gables, and pointed arched timber-framed windows at ground floor level with cusped lancet lights; four in the west gable plus a small lancet in the lower portion of the bell tower, 3 in north elevation, with 2 to the left of the entrance and one to the right, with corresponding small rectangular windows on the floor above, and 2 on the east gable flanking the entrance. Taller windows in principal faces of south range, each with 9 square panes under trefoiled heads, with the southern one corresponding to the former altar window. Additional lancet windows adjacent to projecting gables, and in angled faces, the latter with stained glass. Bell tower has 2-light Y-tracery belfry openings with louvres on the west and south faces only. Above these, octagonal broach spire with wide pyramidal base and cross finial. Lettering below the two rose windows with Welsh on the east gable (‘Canolfan Gelfyddydau’r Eglwys Norwyaidd a Siop Goffi Norsk’) and English on the west (‘Norwegian Church Arts Centre and Norsk Coffee Shop’).

Interior

A mezzanine level divides the northern block, with a café area below (corresponding to the former Reading room) and an exhibition area and office space above with three large square interior windows looking down into the double height space of the chamfered southern block (which corresponds to the church room in the original building) facing the former altar window opposite. This mezzanine floor was a stepped gallery in the original building. Stained glass lancets to either side of former altar window in the south gable; on the left a floral pattern recovered from the old church and rededicated to Huw Roger Allen (former Chairman of the Preservation Trust), on the right an image of fish by Rhiannon Powell donated by the Welsh Norwegian Society in 1992. Suspended from the ceiling over the hall space are a chandelier and a model ship both recovered from the original building. Scissor-truss timber roof structure exposed in both sections. Artefacts on display at inspection included the original baptismal font and a pair of oars recovered from the foundations of the original building.

Reasons for Listing

Listed for special historic interest as a faithful reconstruction of the original Norwegian Church incorporating some features from the original building, a symbol of the diverse international community of Cardiff Docks and in particular the Norwegian presence in South Wales ports. Also of historic interest as part of the redevelopment of Cardiff Bay in the 1980s and 1990s.

External Links

Cadwr Listing

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.