STENFORS, A HERITAGE PATH

 

The ironworks

  By the rapids in Bräkneån, just below the outflow from the lake Tiken, an ironwork was founded in the end of the 1700:th century. The name was changed from Bräken to Stenfors 1748.

 

By the upper, highest fall an ironwork for bar-iron was founded 1693. By the fall in the middle, there was a forge and by the third fall there was since the 16:th century a flour mill wich changed to a saw mill in the 18:th century.

 

The iron  forged by the ironwork, came from the blast-furnaces Ekefors  and Örmo. It was then transported to Karlshamn where most of it was exported as one of the most important articles from Sweden during several hundreds of years.

 

Some of the iron bars stayed in Stenfors and was forged into nails, ploughshares, pickaxes and spades. In the middle of the 19:th century the ironworks was enlarged into an engineering-works where stoves and agricultural tools was moulded.  The running of the mill was discontinued around  the year 1900.

 

The making of bar-iron  became unprofitable and  in the 1890:s it was replaced by a factory which produced boxes. The last step was a small steam sawmill  which ended 1917. By the third fall the the saw and the flourmill was in use until the 1950:s.

 

… and the countryside

 

There usually was about ten workers with families living by Stenfors. The inhabitants in the almost 20 crofts which was situated along the so called Stenforsastreet, worked with harvesting, woodchopping, charcoalburning and tarburning 2-3 days a week and so did they who came from crofts belonging to the manor. 

 

Most of the farmers living within 10 km from the ironworks used to work for it. Charcoalburning, transporting the coal and taking ore from the bottom of the lakes demandes large efforts. Almost 4 200 cubic metre charcoal was used in one year and 4-500 tons ore from the lakes. Farmers in closeby villages used to transport back and forth  Karlshamn continuisly.

 

Everywhere in the woods around Stenfors there are remnants from charcoalburning. Along the heritage path there are three of them.

 

The wood gave many opportunities to make a living. To breake up pinestubs and use it for tar burning was very common in the woods in Småland. Tar burning took place in long downward slopes called tar dales. The cultur ath passes an unusual large tar dale.

 

During the 1700:th and 18:th centuries there was a large burning of potash, used for washing textiles in the large dutsch factories and also as a important material when fabricing glass. The potash burning devastated the woods of leafy trees which used to dominate the landscape.

 

Already during the late 1700:th century, merchandise such as deals, boards, rafters, timber, and wood was important to the farmers living around Tingsryd. The woods had a great importance to the pasturage. The meadows was never grazed instead it was harvested so the hey could be used in the winter. Burn-beating was until the middle of the 19:th century very customary and the purpose was to give a better grazing and a better growth of rye, turnips and potatos.

 

Vegetations and animals

Especially in the hardwood forest and on the meadows there are a richdom of species. On the lower situated parts, down by the stream, plants such as Daphne mezereum, Matteuccia struthiopteris, Melampyrum nemorosum and Lathyrus niger. 

In Bräkneån the largest amount of the otter the province-animal of Småland are found. Here you can  find birds like Cinclus, Gray Wagtail and the Spotted Nutcracker, and also the dormouse.

Stenfors heritage path

It takes you for a 5 kilometers hike through a forest filled with exiting remnants of human activities during the last 500 years.

The aim is to give a picture of the large part the forest played as an income to the people living around an old ironwork in Småland.
The path passes by remnants of buildings and cultivation,and through a landscape with a variation in nature, with a lot of  animals and a rare vegetation.

 S                    The start and end of the heritage path

1. The brewery in the hardwood

2. The manor

3. Mechanical workshop

4. The croft Stenlyckan

5. The snaps brewery

6. The channel

7. Stenfors mill and sawmill

8. Remnants of coal burning, erratic block and a snake spruce

9. Remnants of coal burning and the coalers cot

10. Tar dale

11. The old road

12. The croft Eliselund

13. Moss cultivation and spruce plantation

14. Remnants of coal burning

15. The croft Nybygget

YOU ARE VERY WELCOME TO STENFORS!

A shorted version of the brochure ”Stenfors kulturstig” 
Text: Lars-Olof Larsson and Knut Ingolf. 
Drawings and maps: Elisabet och Lena Larsson.
 Lindströms Boktryckeri AB Växjö 1995.

Do you want to know the exact position of Stenfors click here and find the denotation E19