Ny-Ålesund: London-houses and Harland House

The „Lon­don-hou­ses“ got their remar­kab­le name during ear­lier times when they stood a few miles fur­ther north on Blom­strand­hal­vøya, whe­re the Bri­tish Nor­t­hern Explo­ra­ti­on Com­pa­ny tried to estab­lish a marb­le mine under the name „Ny Lon­don“. But „New Lon­don“ did not sur­vi­ve bey­ond a cou­ple of years and when it was aban­do­ned, most faci­li­ties and mate­ri­als were remo­ved. Only two hou­ses, some bits and pie­ces of machi­nery and various rub­bish was left behind. Some of the hou­ses were moved to Ny-Åle­sund and put into new and good use the­re: this is whe­re the Dutch Arc­tic Sta­ti­on is based now. The Dutch sci­en­tists main­ly work with ter­restri­al eco­lo­gy, with a focus on Bar­na­cle geese and their role in the cycles of mat­ter and ener­gy in the tun­dra.

Oppo­si­te the Lon­don-hou­ses, the­re is the UK Arc­tic Rese­arch Sta­ti­on in Har­land House which is mana­ged and ope­ra­ted by the Bri­tish Ant­ar­c­tic Sur­vey.

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