Oterå or Otterå is a farm in

Austevoll Austevoll is a municipality and an archipelago in Vestland county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Midthordland in Western Norway. The administrative centre is the village of Storebø on the island of Huftarøy. Other vill ...

municipality in

Vestland Vestland is a county in Norway established on 1 January 2020. The county is located in Western Norway and it is centred around the city of Bergen, Norway's second largest city. The administrative centre of the county is the city of Bergen, where t ...

county,

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

Location

The farm is located on the eastern coast of the island of

Huftarøy Huftarøy is the largest island in the municipality of Austevoll in Vestland county, Norway. The island lies in the Austevoll archipelago, just west of the Bjørnafjorden, south of the Korsfjorden, east of the Mokstrafjorden, and north of the S ...

, the largest island in Austevoll municipality. The farm is located along a strait, across from the island of

Reksteren Reksteren is an island in the municipality of Tysnes in Vestland county, Norway. The island covers an area of . Its highest point is the tall Bjørnkletten. The island lies northwest of the larger island of Tysnesøy. The small Bårdsundet s ...

Tysnes Tysnes () is a municipality in Vestland county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Sunnhordland. The administrative centre is the village of Uggdal. Other population centres in Tysnes include the villages of Våge and Onarhei ...

municipality. The farm is located between the neighboring farms ''Såtendal'' and ''Brekke''. Outside the eastern use is a headland known as Oteråneset. County Road 546 runs on the west side of the farm area. Historically it was one large farm, but it has since been divided into two separate farms (eastern and western) with different owners, although they both share the same name. Today, there are many cabins surrounding the main farm.

History

The farm has been in use since around 1600. The name (Otterå, Otteraano, Oteråni and similar spellings) refers to

river A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of wate ...

that runs through the valley. It was historically part of the municipality/parish of

Fitjar Fitjar () is a municipality in Vestland county, Norway. The municipality is located in the traditional district of Sunnhordland. Fitjar municipality includes the northern part of the island of Stord and the hundreds of surrounding islands, most ...

until the municipal boundaries were changed in 1964. The three neighboring farms of Husavik, Brekke, and Otterå had naturally close contact due to their proximity. The first time the farm is mentioned in historical records is in 1590, however at that time it was deserted. In 1610, it is cleared, but in use by "ødegaardsmænd", so there were barren conditions. Since 1799, the land has been owned by the farmers who lived there. Lars Knutsson was the first farmer-landowner. Before that time, the land was owned and then leased to the farmer. Lars Knutsson had married Ildrid Jonsdotter Haukanes who had inherited the farm by his father. Before 1766, it was a part of greater estates in

Sunnhordland Sunnhordland is a traditional district in the western region of Norway. The district consists of the southern coastal regions of the old Hordaland county (now part of Vestland county). It includes the areas that surround the mouth of the Hardang ...

, self-owned in shorter periods. In the first part of the 17th century, the nobleman Aksel Mowatt owned Otterå, and from 1660, Baron Louis Rosenkrantz was the owner. In the first part of the 18th century, the big farmers in

are owners, before Ivar Nilsson Haukanes bought the farm in 1766.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Otteraa Farms in Vestland Austevoll