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.

What you actually see

• 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.

Honest expectations

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.