NY LONDON
The Historic Marble Mine.
BASIC INFORMATION
Ny-London, also known as Camp Mansfield, is located by the small bay of Peirsonhamna, close to Ny-Ålesund. The site contains the remains of an early 20th-century settlement and marble mine and forms part of Svalbard’s protected cultural heritage. It is one of the best-preserved historic mining sites of its kind on Spitsbergen.
At Ny-London, visitors can still see technical equipment dating from before the First World War, including steam engines, lifting equipment, mining carts, and two historic huts once used by the settlers and now occasionally used by researchers. These historic objects are protected and must not be touched, moved, damaged, or removed.
GREAT EXPECTATIONS AND A SPECTACULAR FAILURE
When marble deposits were discovered at Ny-London at the beginning of the 20th century, expectations were enormous. In 1906, enthusiastic reports even described the island as being made of almost pure marble, and Ny-London was quickly imagined as a potential fortune waiting to be made in the High Arctic.
Investors were soon found, and just five years later, in 1911, the English engineer Ernest Richard Mansfield established a marble quarry and an entire mining settlement here. Within a few years, accommodation for around 70 people had been built, together with workshops and warehouses. Railway tracks were laid, locomotives and wagons were brought in, cranes and winches were installed, and the necessary quarrying equipment was put into operation. Marble extraction continued for several years.
However, the ambitious project ultimately proved to be a spectacular failure. The marble turned out to be commercially useless because the blocks cracked and disintegrated after exposure to frost. The mining venture came to an end in 1920, and Ny-London was finally abandoned in 1933. To this day, the remains of the settlement stand as a fascinating monument to the great expectations—and disappointments—of the early industrial exploration of Svalbard.
WILDLIFE AND EXPLORATION AROUND NY-LONDON
The area around Ny-London is also an excellent place to encounter some of Svalbard’s wildlife. Svalbard reindeer can frequently be seen wandering across the tundra, while polar bears occasionally visit the area. Whales also enter the surrounding waters, including Arctic belugas, which can sometimes be observed travelling through the fjord towards the glaciers.
During our expeditions, we usually anchor in the small bay and go ashore to explore the area on foot. In addition to the remains of the historic marble mine, there are two traditional Arctic huts to discover.
All around us stretches a magnificent High Arctic landscape—the fjord, rugged mountains, glaciers and open tundra. The combination of industrial history, wildlife and spectacular scenery makes Ny-London one of the most atmospheric historical sites we visit during our Svalbard expeditions.
