Brunlanes is a parish and former municipality within

Larvik Larvik () is a List of cities in Norway, town and Municipalities of Norway, municipality in Vestfold in Vestfold og Telemark Counties of Norway, county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the city of Larvik. The municipality ...

municipality in

Vestfold Vestfold is a traditional region, a former county and a current electoral district in Eastern Norway. In 2020 the county became part of the much larger county of Vestfold og Telemark. Located on the western shore of the Oslofjord, it bordered th ...

county, Norway. It was annexed by Larvik on January 1, 1988. The administrative centre of the municipality was located in the adjacent villages of

Nevlunghavn Nevlunghavn is a village in Larvik municipality, Norway. Before the municipal merge in 1988 it was a part of Brunlanes municipality. Nevlunghavn has grown together with the adjacent village Helgeroa. The two villages have a combined population ...

and

Helgeroa Helgeroa is a village in Larvik municipality, Norway. It is a popular tourist destination during summers. It is home to a marina, guest harbor, and a harbor for ferries operating in the Langesundsfjord. At the tip of the pier is the 8-meter tall N ...

. Arguably the best soil in Vestfold County can be found in Brunlanes, and farming is the main industry with considerable vegetable- and corn cultivation. It is home to Berg Old Church at Berg, which was erected in the 1100s, but laid in ruins by the 1960s. The church had been rebuilt and features a clear-cut architecture with a red tilestone roof.

History

The parish of Brunlagnæs was established as a municipality January 1, 1838 (see

formannskapsdistrikt () is the name for Norwegian local self-government districts that were legally enacted on 1 January 1838. This system of municipalities was created in a bill approved by the Parliament of Norway and signed into law by King Carl Johan on 14 January ...

). Small parts of Brunlanes were moved to Larvik in 1875 and to the neighboring municipality

Stavern Stavern is a small water-side town in Larvik municipality in Vestfold County, Norway. It is south of the city of Larvik. Currently there are around 3,000 inhabitants in Stavern. It is a small town where tourism is one of the most important sou ...

in 1883, 1938, 1949 and 1969. In 1964 three farms with 12 inhabitants were moved to

Porsgrunn is a city and municipality in Telemark in the county of Vestfold og Telemark in Norway. It is part of the traditional region of Grenland. The administrative centre of the municipality is the city of Porsgrunn. The municipality of Porsgrunn was ...

Telemark Telemark is a traditional region, a former county, and a current electoral district in southern Norway. In 2020, Telemark merged with the former county of Vestfold to form the county of Vestfold og Telemark. Telemark borders the traditional ...

county. On 1 January 1988 Brunlanes was incorporated into the enlarged Larvik municipality. Before the merger it had a population of 8,138. today Brunlanes constituting the south-western part of

. Villages including

and

are located there. Its area is 188 km². There are large areas of good agricultural within Brunlanes. The area is known for strawberry cultivation. Brunlanes is also known for forestry and

wood processing Wood processing is an engineering discipline in the wood industry comprising the production of forest products, such as pulp and paper, construction materials, and tall oil. Paper engineering is a subfield of wood processing. The major wood pro ...

industry. There are many historical relics in Brunlanes, including many burial mounds from the Iron Age and Bronze Age. The large moraine runs into the ocean at far southwestern Brunlanes.

The name

Until 1879 the name was written "Brunlagnæs" (with variations), and in the period 1879-1888 "Brunlanæs". The form "Brunlanes" was settled in 1889. The

Old Norse Old Norse, Old Nordic, or Old Scandinavian, is a stage of development of North Germanic languages, North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and t ...

form of the name was just ''Nesjar'', the plural form of ''nes'' n 'headland'. But the parish (and the municipality) was later named after the old farm ''Brunla''. The first element in this name is probably ''brunnr'' m '

well A well is an excavation or structure created in the ground by digging, driving, or drilling to access liquid resources, usually water. The oldest and most common kind of well is a water well, to access groundwater in underground aquifers. The ...

', or ''brún'' f 'edge; steep slope'. The last element is ''lá'' f 'meadow near the water'.

Brunlanes parish

Brunlanes Parish in Larvik (''Brunlanes prestegjeld'') includes Tanum Church (''Tanum kirke'') in Brunlanes, Kjose church (''Kjose kirke'') at

Farris Farris is a 20 km long fresh water moraine-dammed lake near the Norwegian coastal town Larvik. The lake would have been a salt water fjord had it not been dammed by an end moraine left by the latest ice age An ice age is a long perio ...

, Berg wood church (''Berg trekirke'') and Berg stone church (''Berg steinkirke''). Berg stone church (''Berg steinkirke'') was built of brick in ca. 1100. The old medieval church was partially demolished in 1882, after Berg trekirke had been built on the site in 1878. The remains of the walls were preserved and from 1965 to 1970, the church was restored partly with the original stone. The church has conservation status protected.

Recreation

Brunlanes has Vestfold’s longest coastal hiking trails. The main trail begins at the bay Ødegårdsbukta in the west and goes through

on its way to Mølen Geopark. Along the trail are various beaches, campsites, and unique coastal landscapes. The trail from Mølen to

is 3.5 kilometers and passes by Nevlungstranda Nature Preserve. The trail continues from Nevlunghavn to Løvallodden and later Guslandsmarka. The last section of the trail leads from Gusland to the beach Nalumstranda in the innermost parts of the Naver Fjord. The trailhead is located at Hummerbakken Nature Preserve by the Hummerbakk Fjord. The 8 kilometers from Nalumstranda to

leads through beaches, coastal landscapes, forests, and slopes of naked rocks on its way to Røvika. It also leads by the home of the artist

Odd Nerdrum Odd Nerdrum (born 8 April 1944) is a Norwegian figurative painter, born in Sweden, and considered to be one of the greatest living classical figurative painters. His work is held by museums worldwide. Themes and style in Nerdrum's work referenc ...

. There are panoramic views at Rakke of nearby areas such as Røvika in the west and Skagerak in the south. There are also remains of World War II fortifications here such as concrete gun pits. The trail ends at

Fredriksvern Fredriksvern (also called ''Friderichsværn'' (1801), ''Frederiksværn'' (1865), ''Fredriksværen'' (1900) and abbreviated ''Frsværn'') was an important Norwegian naval base, just south of Larvik in Vestfold. It is named after Fredrik V Denmark- ...

Verft in Stavern, a former naval base with buildings dated to the 17th century.Schandy, Tom and Tom Helgesen (2012). ''Naturperler i Vestfold''. Forlaget Tom & Tom v/Schandy. Pages 205-208. .

Gallery

File:Larvik Berg gamle kirke.jpg, Berg stone church (''Berg stenkirke') File:Berg kirke, MIS.jpg, Berg wood church (''Berg trekirke'') File:Tanum kirke ute.JPG, Tanum church (''Tanum kirke'') File:Kjosekirke-01.jpg, Kjose church (''Kjose kirke'')

References

External links

Den Evangelisk Lutherske Frikirke, Brunlanes
{{Coord, 59, 02, N, 9, 58, E, display=title, region:NO_type:city_source:GNS-enwiki Populated places disestablished in 1988 Former municipalities of Norway Larvik