Hove is a largely beach area on the island of

Tromøy Tromøy (historic: ''Tromø'') is a former municipality in the old Aust-Agder county in Norway. The municipality existed from 1878 until its dissolution in 1992. The municipal area is now part of the municipality of Arendal in Agder county. Th ...

in the municipality of

Arendal Arendal () is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Agder counties of Norway, county in southeastern Norway. Arendal belongs to the Districts of Norway, region of Southern Norway, Sørlandet. The administrative centre of the munici ...

Agder Agder is a counties of Norway, county () and districts of Norway, traditional region in the southern part of Norway and is coextensive with the Southern Norway region. The county was established on 1 January 2020, when the old Vest-Agder and Au ...

county A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

.''Opplevelseskart Hove – Botne''. 2005. Arendal: Friluftsrådet Sør.

Location

The Hove area lies on the southwest part of the island of Tromøy. The

Skagerrak The Skagerrak (; , , ) is a strait running between the North Jutlandic Island of Denmark, the east coast of Norway and the west coast of Sweden, connecting the North Sea and the Kattegat sea. The Skagerrak contains some of the busiest shipping ...

lies to the southeast, and to the northwest is Hove Bay (''Hovekilen''), a shallow protected marine area.''Kongeriget Norges ordentlige Stortings forhandlinger''. 1969. Oslo: Lundhske bogtrykkerie, p. 453. There is a strait to the southwest, separating Hove from the islands of

Merdø Merdø is an island in Arendal municipality in Agder county, Norway. The island lies along the Skagerrak coast, near the entrance to the Galtesundet, the main shipping channel leading to the town of Arendal on the mainland. The islands of Tro ...

and Gjessøya, and northeast of Hove is Spornes, with a beach that alternates between a sandy beach and a pebble beach depending on the wind and weather.

Tromøy Church Tromøy Church () is a parish church of the Church of Norway in Arendal Municipality in Agder county, Norway. It is located in the village of Brekka on the east coast of the island of Tromøy (island), Tromøy. It is one of the churches for the Tr ...

and the Brekka farm stand further to the northeast. The entire area is characterized by a large

moraine A moraine is any accumulation of unconsolidated debris (regolith and Rock (geology), rock), sometimes referred to as glacial till, that occurs in both currently and formerly glaciated regions, and that has been previously carried along by a gla ...

, which creates the natural basis for pebble beaches, sandy beaches, and large areas of Aust-Agder's best arable land. The outer part of the Hove area is part of a moraine landscape area with the protected Hove Woods (''Hoveskogen''), containing windswept

Scots pine ''Pinus sylvestris'', the Scots pine (UK), Scotch pine (US), Baltic pine, or European red pine is a species of tree in the pine family Pinaceae that is native to Eurasia. It can readily be identified by its combination of fairly short, blue-gr ...

. The inner part, facing Hove Bay, has extensive camping and beaches for swimming. Hove Camping and the Hove Farm are also located here. It is about from Hove to the town of Arendal.

History

Viking era

There are 17 registered

burial mounds A tumulus (: tumuli) is a mound of earth and stones raised over a grave or graves. Tumuli are also known as barrows, burial mounds, mounds, howes, or in Siberia and Central Asia as ''kurgans'', and may be found throughout much of the world. ...

in Hove. The mounds date from the Bronze Age to the

Viking Age The Viking Age (about ) was the period during the Middle Ages when Norsemen known as Vikings undertook large-scale raiding, colonising, conquest, and trading throughout Europe and reached North America. The Viking Age applies not only to their ...

. Hove was a part of a southwest Norwegian Viking kingdom around 800 AD. The name ''Hove'' suggests that it may have been the site of an old

heathen hof A heathen hof or Germanic pagan temple is a temple building of Germanic religion (aboriginal), Germanic religion. The term ''hof'' is taken from Old Norse. Background Etymologically, the Old Norse word ''hof'' is the same as the Dutch language, ...

Modern history

Hove Camp was taken over by the German occupation forces during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. Three radar installations were set up on Hove, a ''

Regelbau The ''Regelbau'' (German for "standard(ised) construction") were a series of standardised bunker designs built in large numbers by the Germans in the Siegfried Line () and the Atlantic Wall as part of their defensive fortifications prior to and d ...

'' R618 communications bunker, and an antiaircraft training center (the ''Feld Flakartillerie-schule (Nord) 50'') from 1941 to 1944, probably along with four pieces of 88 mm antiaircraft artillery. After the Second World War, Hove Camp was used by the

Norwegian Armed Forces The Norwegian Armed Forces () are the armed forces responsible for the defence of Norway. It consists of five branches, the Norwegian Army, the Royal Norwegian Navy, which includes the Norwegian Coast Guard, Coast Guard, the Royal Norwegian Air ...

until 1962. In the 1970, the Workers' Communist Party conducted some of its annual summer camps at Hove Camp. For many years, until 2006, the state also used Hove Camp as an asylum reception center. In 2003, the Friends of Hove (''Hoves Venner'') society was established, dedicated to helping preserve the area. Hove Camp is now administered by the Hove Operation and Development Company (''Hove Drifts- og Utviklingsselskap AS''), under 100% ownership of the municipality of Arendal, and it is being developed for cultural and tourism purposes. Starting in 2007, the camp was used for the

Hove Festival The Hove Festival () was a music festival held on the island Tromøya outside of Arendal in southern Norway. It was held for the first time from 26 to 30 June 2007. Running for eight years and at one time the largest music festival in Norway, H ...

, which was Norway's largest music festival that year. The Norwegian reality television series ''71° nord'' has used Hove several times for its broadcasts.

Agriculture

Hove has easily cultivated self-draining soil, and was therefore a favorable place for early agriculture. The Hove area originally belonged to the Hove Farm, which was one of the most important farms on Tromøy. The first known records of growing potatoes in Norway show that they were grown at the Hove Farm; on May 31, 1757 the customs clerk Niels Ålholm wrote in his garden diary that he had "observeret Potatoes at opkomme" (seen the potatoes come up). In 1773, 5,015 potatoes were planted at the farm.Vadum, Kristoffer. Tromøypoteten. Aust-Agder kulturhistoriske senter (AAks). Together with other farms located along Hove Bay, in the 19th century the Hove Farm was able to develop modern agriculture built around the sale of products in Arendal. The products were transported to the town by sea.

Recreation

Hove has a shallow, sandy beach along the north side, facing Hove Bay; this was a popular swimming beach in the 1900s, especially for families with children. It is possible to take boat trips to Hove from Arendal in the summer, and ferry service operates from the town center. There is a campsite connected to the beach. The area is also a popular recreation area for hikers and other outdoor enthusiasts.

Gallery

File:Hove, Local Moods 2007.jpg, Winter in Hove File:Hoveskogen.JPG, Hove Woods (protected) File:Hoveodden.JPG, Hove Point with

island and the

Store Torungen Store Torungen Lighthouse () is a coastal lighthouse on the island of Store Torungen in the municipality of Arendal in Agder county, Norway. This lighthouse, together with the nearby Lille Torungen Lighthouse, mark the entrance from the Skagger ...

and

Lille Torungen Lille Torungen Lighthouse () is a coastal lighthouse on the island of Lille Torungen in the municipality of Arendal in Agder county, Norway. This lighthouse, together with the nearby Store Torungen Lighthouse, mark the entrance from the Skagger ...

islands in the background File:Tre i Hoveskogen.JPG, A typical twisted tree in Hove Woods

References

{{reflist

External links

Hoves Venner (Friends of Hove)

Hove Leirsenter (Hove Camping)

* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20160304002229/http://hoveleirsenter.no/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/Opplevelseskart_Hove.pdf Opplevelseskart Hove – Botne (activities map) Arendal Moraines of Europe Beaches of Norway Landforms of Norway