Church of St Olaf

St Olaf’s Church stands at Wasdale Head in Cumbria, a tiny whitewashed building surrounded by high fells. The earliest record of a church here dates from 1550, though a place of worship may have stood on the same spot long before. In 1977 the rector, the Reverend Raymond Bowers, dedicated it to Saint Olaf after friends in Norway suggested the name. The church belongs to the Diocese of Carlisle and is listed at Grade II on the National Heritage List for England. It forms part of the Parish of Gosforth & Wasdale alongside two other churches in the valley. The church has long been a focus for British climbers and walkers. A small etched pane in the south window shows Napes Needle on Great Gable, a favourite climb nearby. Every Remembrance Sunday at eleven o’clock a silence is observed to remember the fallen. Visitors from forty-three countries and seven continents signed the visitors book in 2019, while a prayer book near the front allows people to leave requests for the ministers to pray over. The current rector is John Riley, assisted by his ordained wife Lesley and curate Alison. Inside, the single room contains the visitors book and the prayer book on a small table. The plain white walls and simple furnishings create a quiet space for reflection. Outside, the church sits beside the road at the head of the valley with steep fells rising behind it. The surrounding landscape of scree slopes and tarns draws many who come to walk or remember.