Riddarhyttan is a
locality
Locality may refer to:
* Locality (association), an association of community regeneration organizations in England
* Locality (linguistics)
* Locality (settlement)
* Suburbs and localities (Australia), in which a locality is a geographic subdivis ...
in
Skinnskatteberg Municipality
Skinnskatteberg Municipality (''Skinnskattebergs kommun'') is a municipality in Västmanland County in central Sweden. Its seat is located in the town of Skinnskatteberg.
In 1952 a new greater municipality was created when "old" Skinskatteberg ...
,
Västmanland County
Västmanland County ( sv, Västmanlands län) is a county or '' län'' in central Sweden. It borders the counties of Södermanland, Örebro, Gävleborg, Dalarna and Uppsala. The county also has a stretch of shoreline towards Mälaren (Sweden's ...
, Sweden, with 431 inhabitants in 2010.
It has an old iron mining tradition, which can be followed back to the last centuries before Christ. The last mine was closed down in 1979.
Geography and geology
Riddarhyttan is, along with
Skinnskatteberg
Skinnskatteberg () is a locality and the seat of Skinnskatteberg Municipality in Västmanland County, Sweden with 2,287 inhabitants in 2010.
Notable people
*Johan Jakob Borelius (1823 – 1909), professor of theoretical philosophy
Gallery
File:S ...
, one of only two urban areas or ''localities'' (more than 200 inhabitants) in the
Skinnskatteberg Municipality
Skinnskatteberg Municipality (''Skinnskattebergs kommun'') is a municipality in Västmanland County in central Sweden. Its seat is located in the town of Skinnskatteberg.
In 1952 a new greater municipality was created when "old" Skinskatteberg ...
in the western part of
Västmanland County
Västmanland County ( sv, Västmanlands län) is a county or '' län'' in central Sweden. It borders the counties of Södermanland, Örebro, Gävleborg, Dalarna and Uppsala. The county also has a stretch of shoreline towards Mälaren (Sweden's ...
, on the border to
Örebro County
Örebro County ( sv, Örebro län) is a county or '' län'' in central Sweden. It borders the counties of Västra Götaland, Värmland, Dalarna, Västmanland, Södermanland and Östergötland. It is frequently culturally divided into the hilly n ...
. It is located in the north of the historical province of
Västmanland
Västmanland ( or ), is a historical Swedish province, or ''landskap'', in middle Sweden. It borders Södermanland, Närke, Värmland, Dalarna and Uppland.
Västmanland means "(The) Land of the Western Men", where the "western men" (''västerm ...
. The area of the locality, as defined by
Statistics Sweden
Statistics Sweden ( sv, Statistiska centralbyrån ; SCB) is the Swedish government agency operating under the Ministry of Finance and responsible for producing official statistics for decision-making, debate and research. The agency's responsib ...
, is 1.56 km
2.
The
Swedish national road 68 is running through Riddarhyttan and the lake Lien is located next to it.
It lies in the middle of the historically mining district
Bergslagen
Bergslagen is a historical, cultural, and linguistic region located north of Lake Mälaren in northern Svealand, Sweden, traditionally known as a mining district. In Bergslagen, the mining and metallurgic industries have been important since th ...
. It is about 30 km to
Fagersta
Fagersta is a locality and the seat of Fagersta Municipality in Västmanland County, Sweden, with 11,130 inhabitants in 2010.
Geography
The city is located at the junction of two railways between Ludvika-Västerås and Avesta (Krylbo)-Örebro, ...
, 35 km to
Lindesberg
Lindesberg () is a locality and the seat of Lindesberg Municipality, Örebro County, Sweden with 9,672 inhabitants in 2017.
History
Lindesberg has centuries old history, being the center of an old mining district. The earliest known traces ...
and 70 km to
Västerås
Västerås ( , , ) is a city in central Sweden on the shore of Mälaren, Lake Mälaren in the province of Västmanland, west of Stockholm. The city had a population of 127,799 at the end of 2019, out of the municipal total of 154,049.
Västerås ...
.
When the last ice age in Bergslagen came to an end about 9,500 years ago, Riddarhyttan was located on the border between land and sea.
That resulted in
kettles,
glacial erratic
A glacial erratic is glacially deposited rock differing from the type of rock native to the area in which it rests. Erratics, which take their name from the Latin word ' ("to wander"), are carried by glacial ice, often over distances of hundred ...
s and other specific landforms. When the ice was melting, iron was released from the bedrock into the groundwater and became exposed iron oxide (ochre). That gave rise to a red-colour soil in some parts of Riddarhyttan, especially in the area called ''Röda Jorden'' (''red earth'').
History
People started to extract iron from the red earth in the Riddarhyttan area sometime between 700 BC
and 400 BC,
which makes it the oldest area with ironworks in the
Bergslagen
Bergslagen is a historical, cultural, and linguistic region located north of Lake Mälaren in northern Svealand, Sweden, traditionally known as a mining district. In Bergslagen, the mining and metallurgic industries have been important since th ...
region. Remains of several primitive
blast furnace
A blast furnace is a type of metallurgical furnace used for smelting to produce industrial metals, generally pig iron, but also others such as lead or copper. ''Blast'' refers to the combustion air being "forced" or supplied above atmospheric ...
s have been found and the age have been established by
carbon dating
Radiocarbon dating (also referred to as carbon dating or carbon-14 dating) is a method for determining the age of an object containing organic material by using the properties of radiocarbon, a radioactive isotope of carbon.
The method was dev ...
. The iron-making was carried on until about the birth of Christ.
The locality Riddarhyttan dates back to the
Middle Ages
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...
. ''Hälsingegruvan'' and ''Munkhyttan'' was mentioned as early as 1420.
It was the State that first commenced mining in the area but private persons, or ''Bergsmän'', were granted to use the mines later on. In 1611, Thomas Hammarsmed was granted the right to erect a forge and an iron blast-furnace.
[''Iron and steel in Sweden'', pp. 65–66]
References
;Citations
;Sources
*
External links
riddarhyttan.nu
* Images o
KällfalletBäckegruvanan
Bastnäsby Jakob Ehrensvärd
{{Authority control
Populated places in Västmanland County
Populated places in Skinnskatteberg Municipality