Nordøyan is an

archipelago An archipelago ( ), sometimes called an island group or island chain, is a chain, cluster, or collection of islands. An archipelago may be in an ocean, a sea, or a smaller body of water. Example archipelagos include the Aegean Islands (the o ...

and abandoned

fishing village A fishing village is a village, usually located near a fishing ground, with an economy based on catching fish and harvesting seafood. The continents and islands around the world have coastlines totalling around 356,000 kilometres (221,000 ...

Nærøysund Municipality Nærøysund is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. It is located in the Traditional districts of Norway, traditional district of Namdalen. The municipality was established on 1 January 2020 after the mer ...

Trøndelag Trøndelag (; or is a county and coextensive with the Trøndelag region (also known as ''Midt-Norge'' or ''Midt-Noreg,'' "Mid-Norway") in the central part of Norway. It was created in 1687, then named Trondhjem County (); in 1804 the county was ...

county,

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 ...

. The island group is located at the western end of the Folda fjord, about to the southwest of the island of Ytter-Vikna and about to the northwest of the Sør-Gjæslingan islands. Nordøyan has been the site of a fishing village dating back to the 16th century, but since 1919, has not had any permanent residents. The homes on Nordøyan are now mostly used as holiday cottages.

History

The oldest record of activity on the islands dates to 1597 when it was mentioned in records as one of the six

s in the

prestegjeld A ''prestegjeld'' was a geographic and administrative area within the Church of Norway (''Den Norske Kirke'') roughly equivalent to a parish. This traditional designation was in use for centuries to divide the kingdom into ecclesiastical areas tha ...

of Nærøy. During the 19th century, many rorbu were built in Nordøyan. In 1893, a pier was constructed. The harbor was improved from 1890–1920 through the construction of

breakwaters A breakwater is a permanent structure constructed at a coastal area to protect against tides, currents, waves, and storm surges. Breakwaters have been built since antiquity to protect anchorages, helping isolate vessels from marine hazards ...

between several of the islands.

Nordøyan Lighthouse Nordøyan Lighthouse () is a coastal lighthouse in Nærøysund Municipality in Trøndelag, Norway. It was established in 1890 and automated in 1989. The light is powered on all year except from May 12 until July 25 due to the midnight sun in this ...

is located on the islet of Surnøya, having been built there in 1890. By the turn of the 20th century, motorized boats were beginning to be seen in the area. Motor powered boats quickly gained ground, and in a statistical overview from 1911, about 58% of the fishing fleet in

Namdalen Namdalen () is a Districts of Norway, traditional district in the central part of Norway, consisting of the municipalities of Namsos Municipality, Namsos, Grong Municipality, Grong, Overhalla Municipality, Overhalla, Røyrvik Municipality, Røyr ...

was motorized. This change meant that fisherman could live further away from the fishing grounds and little, remote island fishing villages were less needed. Nordøyan no longer had any permanent residents by 1919. On 21 October 1962, the ran aground at

Nordøyan lighthouse Nordøyan Lighthouse () is a coastal lighthouse in Nærøysund Municipality in Trøndelag, Norway. It was established in 1890 and automated in 1989. The light is powered on all year except from May 12 until July 25 due to the midnight sun in this ...

and 41 people died, in an event known as the .

Geography

The village consists of three large

islet An islet ( ) is generally a small island. Definitions vary, and are not precise, but some suggest that an islet is a very small, often unnamed, island with little or no vegetation to support human habitation. It may be made of rock, sand and/ ...

s: Heimværet, Oddholmen, Surnøya, along with several smaller islets. The area consisted of bare bedrock and partly peat-covered rock. Vegetation is limited to grass and heather. There are remains of a road from the quarry to the

quay A wharf ( or wharfs), quay ( , also ), staith, or staithe is a structure on the shore of a harbour or on the bank of a river or canal where ships may dock to load and unload cargo or passengers. Such a structure includes one or more Berth (mo ...

in connection with the construction of the breakwaters; this has now been converted into fish racks for drying fish, and the "road" is used for transporting fish.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nordoyan Nærøysund Islands of Trøndelag Archipelagoes of Norway Fishing communities in Norway Uninhabited islands of Norway

History

Geography

See also

References