Monuments and sites in Norway

Tromøy old church

On their way to the Gold Coast, the Fredensborg was anchored in the road off Merdøgaard for 17 days. On Annunciation Day 1767, a number of the ordinary seamen and officers on board received permission to attend the church service. Tromøy Church had also been used for centuries as a navigational aid. The oldest part of the church is from the 12th century; the last time it was rebuilt was in 1758. The old ship model of the East Indiaman, Dronningen af Dannemark (Queen of Denmark), is a central element in the church.

The maritime declaration

On the east end of Tromøy, at Hastensund, the house still exists where the maritime declaration was held after the Fredensborg was wrecked. Due to this declaration, it was possible to locate the wreck of the slave ship.

The Fredensborg wreck site

It is only through remembering history that we can avoid repeating it. Therefore, at the site where the Fredensborg sank, a memorial cairn has been erected, bearing a plaque which tells the story. The monument was unveiled on 1 December 1996 by four Ghanaians.

The outport Narestø

On the coast of Arendal is the outport Narestø. Several of the buildings from the days of the Fredensborg still exist. After the slave ship was wrecked on 1 December 1768 the crew was lodged in Narestø. Among them were the African crew member, Aye, two slaves and Captain Ferentz. One of the crew members, boatswain Christopher Rosenberg, was buried on Flosta Church cemetery.

The slave cellar in Narestø

This picture, from the potato cellar where the two slaves, Oliver and Roland, were locked up, show the African actor Issaka Sawadogo. He is probably the first African to visit the cellar after Oliver and Roland.

A slave captain`s house

The Merdøgaard Museum is an annex of the Aust Agder Museum. On this unique coastal farm on the isle of Merdø, outside of Arendal, is a well-preserved captain's house built in 1736. One of the owners, Zachrias Allewelt, was captain of a slave ship. In 1727 he took the galleon The Young Maiden on a voyage in the triangular trade. At Fort Christiansborg on the Gold Coast he loaded 51 slaves, of whom 19 died during the Middle Passage. Allewelt sold the house to another captain, Jesper With, who was on the board of Directors of the Guinea Company which had sent the Fredensborg on its way.