Borgvattnet is a small village in

Ragunda Municipality Ragunda Municipality ( ) is a municipality in Jämtland County in northern Sweden. Its seat is in Hammarstrand. The present municipality was formed in 1974, when "old" Ragunda Municipality was amalgamated with the municipalities of Fors and St ...

in northern

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

Borgvattnet

Borgvattnet is a small village in the northeast of the county of

Jämtland Jämtland (; no, Jemtland or , ; Jamtish: ''Jamtlann''; la, Iemptia) is a historical province () in the centre of Sweden in northern Europe. It borders Härjedalen and Medelpad to the south, Ångermanland to the east, Lapland to the north a ...

. After decades of decline in 2022 the population is around 65 residents. The last few years new people have been coming from outside Sweden. They mostly come from Germany and The Netherlands. Even new business have been started. The village is marked by its beautiful church in the village center built in 1782 by Pål Persson from Stugun. It was his first church of this kind. The church is part of the 'Sydöstra Jämtlands pastorat' part of the Swedish Church '

Svenska Kyrkan Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used ...

'. Almost every two weeks services are being held. Against all odds the village still has a working grocery store called 'Brännholms Lanthandel'. This supermarket is also appointed as a service point for the municipality of Ragunda and in 2022 it also became a 'SOT-punkt' as part of the network of 'Lokala service- och trygghetspunkter (SOT-punkter)' - Local service and security points (SOT points). Opposite the store is a petrol station which is driven by the local residents. Borgvattnet is also renowned for its old

vicarage A clergy house is the residence, or former residence, of one or more priests or ministers of religion. Residences of this type can have a variety of names, such as manse, parsonage, rectory or vicarage. Function A clergy house is typically own ...

which was built in 1876, and is reputed to be a

haunted house A haunted house, spook house or ghost house in ghostlore is a house or other building often perceived as being inhabited by disembodied spirits of the deceased who may have been former residents or were otherwise connected with the prope ...

. In 1945, chaplain Erik Lindgren moved into the vicarage and he started writing down in his journal all the strange things he experienced. In the early seventies of the last century the

was bought by local entrepreneur Erik Brännholms who turned the house into a hostel. Overnight guests were given a certificate after their stay in the vicarage.

Tore Forslund Tore Forslund (26 February 1927–15 March 2000), also known as Spökprästen ("the ghostpriest"), was a writer, poet, Lutheran priest, street musician, and editor of the magazine ''A Voice Crying in the Wilderness'', that he founded 1957. Bi ...

or the ghostpriest was a priest who worked in Borgvattnet in 1981 and he offered the village to relieve Borgvattnet from the ghosts that were said to dwell in the old vicarage. He was also strongly against the

occult The occult, in the broadest sense, is a category of esoteric supernatural beliefs and practices which generally fall outside the scope of religion and science, encompassing phenomena involving otherworldly agency, such as magic and mysticism a ...

phenomena A phenomenon ( : phenomena) is an observable event. The term came into its modern philosophical usage through Immanuel Kant, who contrasted it with the noumenon, which ''cannot'' be directly observed. Kant was heavily influenced by Gottfried W ...

that existed in the district. Disappointed at not being able to meet the accusations the

cathedral A cathedral is a church that contains the '' cathedra'' () of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually specific to those Christian denomination ...

chapter had against him he decided to leave the

Church of Sweden The Church of Sweden ( sv, Svenska kyrkan) is an Evangelical Lutheran national church in Sweden. A former state church, headquartered in Uppsala, with around 5.6 million members at year end 2021, it is the largest Christian denomination in Sw ...

in 1981. ''

Ghost Hunters International ''Ghost Hunters International'' (abbreviated as ''GHI'') is a spin-off series of '' Ghost Hunters'' that aired on Syfy (formerly Sci-Fi). The series premiered on January 9, 2008, and ended on April 4, 2012. Like its parent series, ''GHI'' was ...

'' has investigated the place and aired the episode in their first season in January 2009. On midsummer 1954, a memorial stone was placed in memory of the Vedin family, of whom 9 members (mother and 8 kids) drowned after the sinking of the passenger steamship

SS Norge SS ''Norge'' () was a Transatlantic crossing, transatlantic ocean liner that was launched in 1881 in Scotland, and lost in 1904 off Rockall with great loss of life. Her final voyage was from Copenhagen, Oslo, Kristiania and Kristiansand, bound ...

near the

Rockall Rockall () is an uninhabitable granite islet situated in the North Atlantic Ocean. The United Kingdom claims that Rockall lies within its exclusive economic zone (EEZ) and is part of its territory, but this claim is not recognised by Ireland. ...

plateau in the North Atlantic Ocean on June 28, 1904. Up to this date this disaster remains the worst in Danish maritime history. From a crew of 68 and 727 passengers, only 160 people survived. Justin Vedin had sold their small farm and most of their possession and bordered the SS Norge with her children to emigrate to the United States to join her husband and father, Mårten Mårtensson Vedin. Miraculously two children of the Vedin family, 4 year old Thure and the eldest son Mårten survived and were reunited with their father in August 1904. The memorial stone can still be found in a part of Borgvattnets forest at a place called 'Mårtenshägna'.

References

*Olsson, Thomas. ''Borgvattnets gamla prästgård.''

External links

Borgvattnet's oldest supermarket is still in business WebsiteThe Haunted Vicarage Website
{{authority control Populated places in Ragunda Municipality Jämtland