The chapel was built from 1793 by settlers around Kvarnbergsvattnet, Björkvattnet and Jormsjön, most of whom were of Norwegian origin. The builder, Enar Persson, had moved to nearby Jorm from Norway and is thought to have worked largely from memory, using a Norwegian church as his model rather than formal plans. Although consecrated in spring 1794 by the provost Olof Nordenström of Offerdal, the building was not fully completed until 1799, when it offered around 125 seats.
The timber structure is clad in wooden boards and painted red, with a nave, porch and a lower chancel extension containing the sacristy to the north, all beneath a wood-shingle roof. Enar Persson and his family were given the most prominent pews, and one bench is said to carry a carved inscription recording his ownership of the seat and that of his descendants, dated 1799.
Once a new parish church was built at Gäddede in 1839, Vikens kapell lost its central role and fell into neglect. Calls for repair were recorded later in the nineteenth century, and the building received new windows and a spire in 1897. Further work followed in the twentieth century, including replacement of the roof shingles in 1932, a more thorough restoration in the early 1950s that added leaded windows and electric heating, and an exterior restoration in 2008–2009. The chapel and its surroundings are recognised as being of national interest for cultural heritage conservation.
Inside, a free-standing altarpiece is inscribed as the work of Jöns Asplund of Äspnäs in Ström, dated 1799. Wrought-iron chandeliers and candlesticks by Levi Johansson date from the early 1950s.
The chapel has a literary and musical footnote: poet Beppe Wolgers published a 1973 poetry collection inspired by a visit here, later reflected in a double LP recorded with Merit Hemmingson. In 2025 his grandson Teodor Wolgers released a musical interpretation of the same poems under a matching title.