Ny-London

An English company set up a marble quarry on Blomstrandhalvøya in Kongsfjorden in 1911, put up housing and machinery and called the place Ny-London, and the venture collapsed within a few years when the marble, which had been sound in the permafrost, crumbled as soon as it thawed on the ships taking it south. Two huts, the remains of machinery and the workings are left on the shore, protected as cultural heritage. Blomstrandhalvoya was joined to the mainland by ice when it was named a peninsula, and the glacier has since retreated far enough that it is now an island.

Background

Ernest Mansfield, a prospector, found marble on the island of Blomstrandøya in 1906 and claimed the deposits amounted to an island of pure marble. He set up the settlement in 1911 on behalf of the Northern Exploration Company, known as the NEC. Around 1912 a sizeable shipment of the stone went to England to persuade investors, but frost weathering had left it useless and it fell apart once it reached warmer climates. Mining had dwindled to little or nothing for years before all work stopped in 1920.

Source: Wikipedia, "Ny-London"

What to look for

• The quarry workings - the cuts left where the marble was taken out.
• The abandoned machinery - the equipment left standing on the shore.
• The huts - the surviving buildings of the 1911 settlement.
• The failure story - stone that held in permafrost and crumbled once thawed.

When to go

June to September is the boat season. Sea ice closes the fjord in winter. Landings depend on conditions.

What to expect

Everything on site is protected and nothing may be moved. The buildings are unstable. Access is only from Ny-Ålesund or by expedition ship.

Nearby

Ny-Ålesund is across the fjord, and Kongsfjorden's glaciers are east.

Key facts