The Norwegian Church was built in 1869 on land donated by the Marquess of Bute. It was a place of worship for the large number of Scandinavian sailors and seamen who sailed into the port, many of whom made Cardiff their home.

The distinctive building was constructed from materials carried by sea from Norway and originally erected to the south-west of West Bute Dock.

The Church was first and foremost a seamen's mission, but it was also a home-from-home for sailors, where they could read newspapers and magazines from home, write letters to their loved-ones, relax and chat with their friends. The family of writer Roald Dahl attended the church and he himself was baptised there in 1916.

During the second world war the church doubled up as a bank, a place where seamen could store their valuables while at sea. At one time it was decided to paint it green so that it wouldn't be so obvious to the enemy.

As Cardiff Docks declined, so did the congregation and visitors to the church. The church was finally deconsecrated and closed in 1970, falling into disrepair through lack of maintenance and vandalism.

In the mid 1980s Dahl led efforts to set up the Norwegian Church Preservation Trust to rescue the derelict building and to raise funds to dismantle and relocate it at the heart of Cardiff's historical docklands.

The church was dismantled in 1987 and moved to a new location adjoining the Roath Basin. Roald Dahl was the trust's first president but died on 23 November 1990, before the reconstruction was completed.

The church was re-opened by Princess Martha Louise of Norway on 8th April 1992. Though the re-built church has not been consecrated, the present day uses of the building confirm and recreate the tranquil, relaxed and welcoming character of the church.

The Norwegian Church now has a tea room and is used as a venue for small scale musical recitals and concerts, exhibitions and wedding receptions.

As you leave the church make your way along the waterside. You will see inscriptions engraved in the low wall outside. These are sea shanties written in many different languages representing the cosmopolitan nature of Cardiff Bay.