Norwegians came to Wales as the coal industry expanded and conquered south Wales. They came first as merchant seamen bringing pit props of Scandinavian timber to support the deep shafts and tunnels and taking Welsh coal around the world. Some settled and built businesses serving the sea trade – among them the Dahl family whose son Roald became a world-famous author.
At one point there were so many Norwegians in South Wales that the Norwegian Seamen’s Mission established four churches – in Cardiff, Swansea, Barry and Newport – to serve not only as places of worship, but also as community centres, libraries, and providers of welfare and communication for people far from home.
As the coal trade declined, and congregations became more integrated into Welsh society, the churches closed. However, the buildings in Cardiff and Swansea were preserved, albeit on new sites, and now the Cardiff church is the home of a thriving arts and cultural centre and café.
Thanks to a National Lottery Heritage Fund grant and with the support of the Norwegian Seamen’s Mission in Bergen, heritage officer Thomas Alexander Husøy-Ciaccia has been tracing the story of the churches in south Wales and their communities, and has curated a new exhibition at the Norwegian church in Cardiff Bay.
In this video he tells Kevin Burden of the Welsh Norwegian Society about the churches’ place in the rapid changes in Wales in the 19th and 20th centuries.
Welsh Norwegian Society 