Agdenes is a former municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. The municipality existed from 1896 until its dissolution in 2020 when it became part of Orkland Municipality. It was part of the

Fosen Fosen is a traditional district in Trøndelag, consisting of the municipalities Osen, Roan Åfjord, Ørland, Indre Fosen, Orkland, Heim, Hitra and Frøya. The district is dominated by forested valleys, lakes, coastal cliffs but also shallow a ...

region. The

administrative centre An administrative center is a seat of regional administration or local government, or a county town, or the place where the central administration of a commune is located. In countries with French as administrative language (such as Belgium, Lu ...

was the village of Selbekken. Other villages in the municipality included Ingdalen, Lensvik, Vassbygda, Vernes, and Leksa. The Brekstad–Valset Ferry connected Agdenes to the town of Brekstad in Ørland municipality on the other side of the

Trondheimsfjorden The Trondheim Fjord or Trondheimsfjorden (), an inlet of the Norwegian Sea, is Norway's third-longest fjord at long. It is located in the west-central part of the country in Trøndelag county, and it stretches from the municipality of Ørland ...

. At the time of its dissolution, the municipality is the 270th largest by area out of the 422 municipalities in Norway. Agdenes is the 344th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 1,684. The municipality's population density is and its population has decreased by 4.2% over the last decade.

General information

The municipality of ''Værnes'' was established on 1 January 1896 when it was separated from the large municipality of Ørland which originally included land on both sides of the mouth of the

. The new municipality of Værnes encompassed the area along the south side of the Trondheimsleia and

and it initially had a population of 1,412. The name was changed to ''Agdenes'' on 17 May 1897 by a royal resolution. The

was originally at the village of Værnes where the

Agdenes Church Agdenes Church ( no, Agdenes kirke) is a parish church of the Church of Norway in Orkland municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. It is located in the village of Vernes, Trøndelag, Vernes along the Trondheimsleia in the north part of Agdenes, ...

is located. During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. On 1 January 1964, the western part of Agdenes (''Ytre Agdenes'') was separated from the rest of the municipality and it was merged with the neighboring municipalities of Snillfjord (population: 681) and

Heim Heim is the German, Norwegian, Icelandic and Faroese equivalent of the English word ''home''. It is a common German and Norwegian suffix in place names such as Mannheim and Trondheim. In Norwegian place names, the suffix is often weakened to just ...

(population: 724) to form the new municipality of Snillfjord. On the same date, the rest of Agdenes municipality (population: 858) was merged with the neighboring municipalities of Lensvik (population: 1,136) and the Ingdalen area of

Stadsbygd Stadsbygd is a village in Indre Fosen municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. The village is located at the southern end of the Fosen peninsula in a wide, flat valley, just east of the village of Askjem, along the north side of the Trondheim ...

(population: 171) and together, they formed a new, larger municipality of Agdenes. On 1 January 1995, the Moldtun area (population: 21) was transferred from Agdenes to the neighboring municipality of Snillfjord. This transfer was approved because the area had been without an outside road connection, and so the only connection was by boat which made it very close to the village of Vernes in Agdenes. When the road was built, it was built to the west, connecting it to Snillfjord, not Agdenes. Therefore, it was logical for the residents to vote to change municipalities. On 1 January 2018, the municipality switched from the old

Sør-Trøndelag Sør-Trøndelag () was a county comprising the southern portion of the present-day Trøndelag county in Norway. It bordered the old Nord-Trøndelag county as well as the counties of Møre og Romsdal, Oppland, and Hedmark. To the west is the No ...

county to the new Trøndelag county. On 1 January 2020, the municipalities of Agdenes,

Orkdal Orkdal is a former municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. The municipality existed from 1838 until its dissolution in 2020 when it joined Orkland Municipality. It was part of the Orkdalen region. The administrative centre of the municipal ...

, and Meldal along with the majority of Snillfjord were merged to form the new municipality of Orkland.

Name

The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the old ''Agdenes'' farm ( non, Agðanes), since the first

was built there. The meaning of the first element is unknown (but it is probably the same meaning as in the name Agder) and the last element is ''nes'' which means "

headland A headland, also known as a head, is a coastal landform, a point of land usually high and often with a sheer drop, that extends into a body of water. It is a type of promontory. A headland of considerable size often is called a cape.Whittow, John ...

Coat of arms

The coat of arms was granted on 30 August 1991. The arms show a field of ermine under a red

chief Chief may refer to: Title or rank Military and law enforcement * Chief master sergeant, the ninth, and highest, enlisted rank in the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Space Force * Chief of police, the head of a police department * Chief of the boa ...

. The ermine field symbolizes the

fur farming Fur farming is the practice of breeding or raising certain types of animals for their fur. Most of the world's farmed fur is produced by European farmers. In 2018, there were 5,000 fur farms in the EU, all located across 22 countries; these ...

in the municipality. As ermine is also a royal symbol, it symbolises the fact that in historical times the local overlords ('' jarls'') and kings have resided in the village. The red chief across the top was chosen to represent the importance of

strawberry The garden strawberry (or simply strawberry; ''Fragaria × ananassa'') is a widely grown hybrid species of the genus '' Fragaria'', collectively known as the strawberries, which are cultivated worldwide for their fruit. The fruit is widely ap ...

farming in the municipality.

Churches

The

Church of Norway The Church of Norway ( nb, Den norske kirke, nn, Den norske kyrkja, se, Norgga girku, sma, Nöörjen gærhkoe) is an evangelical Lutheran denomination of Protestant Christianity and by far the largest Christian church in Norway. The church b ...

had one parish () within the municipality of Agdenes. It is part of the

Orkdal prosti This list of churches in Nidaros is a list of the Church of Norway churches in the Diocese of Nidaros which covers all of Trøndelag county in Norway. The list is divided into several sections, one for each deanery in the diocese. Administrati ...

(

deanery A deanery (or decanate) is an ecclesiastical entity in the Roman Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Anglican Communion, the Evangelical Church in Germany, and the Church of Norway. A deanery is either the jurisdiction or residenc ...

) in the

Diocese of Nidaros Nidaros is a diocese in the Lutheran Church of Norway. It covers Trøndelag county in Central Norway and its cathedral city is Trondheim, which houses the well-known Nidaros Cathedral. Since 10 September 2017, the Bishop of Nidaros is Herborg ...

Economy

The industrial density of Agdenes is above the national average, and the primary sector is the biggest. Most of the inhabitants work within the milk or forest industry. The growth of

strawberries The garden strawberry (or simply strawberry; ''Fragaria × ananassa'') is a widely grown hybrid species of the genus '' Fragaria'', collectively known as the strawberries, which are cultivated worldwide for their fruit. The fruit is widely ap ...

and the breeding of fur animals are important industries as well. The growth of

has been a major industry in Agdenes for the past 100 years, started by the farmer Lars H. Selbæk in 1886 by planting some strawberry flowers and then giving them away to neighbouring farms. The most common varieties of strawberry grown here are Korona, Sephyr, Senga Sengana, and Bounty. Today, strawberry collection is performed by foreign workers, which are mainly from Poland and

Lithuania Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania ...

. In the initial stages, the Norwegian youth were the main workforce, but after the 1970s, it became less attractive for them to pick strawberries in a field.

Government

All municipalities in Norway, including Agdenes, are responsible for

primary education Primary education or elementary education is typically the first stage of formal education, coming after preschool/kindergarten and before secondary school. Primary education takes place in ''primary schools'', ''elementary schools'', or first ...

(through 10th grade), outpatient

health services Health care or healthcare is the improvement of health via the preventive healthcare, prevention, diagnosis, therapy, treatment, wiktionary:amelioration, amelioration or cure of disease, illness, injury, and other disability, physical and menta ...

, senior citizen services, unemployment and other

social services Social services are a range of public services intended to provide support and assistance towards particular groups, which commonly include the disadvantaged. They may be provided by individuals, private and independent organisations, or administe ...

, zoning, economic development, and municipal roads. The municipality is governed by a municipal council of elected representatives, which in turn elect a mayor. The municipality falls under the Trøndelag District Court and the Frostating Court of Appeal.

Municipal council

The municipal council () of Agdenes is made up of 17 representatives that are elected every four years. The party breakdown of the final municipal council is as follows:

Geography

The municipality is situated at the south end of the mouth of the Trondheimsfjord where it meets the Trondheimsleia. It includes several islands including Leksa. The municipality borders the municipalities of Hitra, Ørland, Indre Fosen,

, and Snillfjord. The lake Øyangsvatnet is located in the west central part of the municipality. The

Agdenes Lighthouse The Agdenes Lighthouse or Ringflua is a lighthouse on the Trondheimsfjord in the municipality of Orkland in Trøndelag county, Norway. The lighthouse sits just offshore at a 90 degree bend in the fjord which leads to the city of Trondheim. The ...

sits on the edge of the Trondheimsfjord.

Birdlife

The municipality of Agdenes has a rich and varied birdlife. One of the better places is Litlvatnet. Fully protected since 1983, this nature reserve comprises shallow water with extensive

reed bed A reedbed or reed bed is a natural habitat found in floodplains, waterlogged depressions and estuaries. Reedbeds are part of a succession from young reeds colonising open water or wet ground through a gradation of increasingly dry ground. As ...

s. The lake is surrounded by farm land, which in its own right provides food and shelter for several species. Formed during the last ice age when sea levels dropped leaving exposed areas of land and trapped water from the melting ice, today's Litlvatnet is a remnant of this.

References

External links

* {{authority control Former municipalities of Norway 1896 establishments in Norway 2020 disestablishments in Norway Orkland Populated places disestablished in 2020