Nøtterøy is the largest

island An island or isle is a piece of land, distinct from a continent, completely surrounded by water. There are continental islands, which were formed by being split from a continent by plate tectonics, and oceanic islands, which have never been ...

Vestfold Vestfold () is a county and a current electoral district in Norway. Located on the western shore of the Oslofjord, it borders Buskerud and Telemark counties. The county administration is located in Tønsberg, Norway's oldest city, and the larg ...

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 is mostly located in

Færder Municipality Færder is a municipality in Vestfold county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Vestfold. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Borgheim. Other villages in the municipality include Årøysund, Bj ...

, but a small area on the far northern shore belongs to

Tønsberg Municipality Tønsberg () is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Vestfold county, Norway. It is located in the Traditional districts of Norway, traditional district of Jarlsberg. The administrative centre of the municipality is the Tønsberg, ...

. The island is between the

Ytre Oslofjord Ytre Oslofjord () is part of a fjord in eastern Norway. The Ytre Oslofjord is the outer part of the Oslofjord which is south of point where the Hurumlandet peninsula splits the fjord between the Drøbak Sound (the strait where the fjord narrows ...

(to the east) and the

Tønsbergfjorden Tønsbergfjorden is a fjord in Vestfold county, Norway. The long fjord runs between the mainland (Sandefjord Municipality) and the islands of Tjøme and Nøtterøy (Færder Municipality). The fjord has a number of islands located within it inclu ...

(to the west). Most of the northern part of the island is considered part of the city of Tønsberg metropolitan area which spans parts of Tønsberg and Færder municipalities. In the southern part of the island, there are three larger urban villages: Glomstein on the west coast,

Kjøpmannskjær Kjøpmannskjær is a village in Færder Municipality in Vestfold county, Norway. The village is located on the southern shore of the island of Nøtterøy, about east of the village of Tenvik, about north of the village of Sundene (on Tjøme ...

on the south coast, and

Årøysund Årøysund is a village in Færder Municipality in Vestfold county, Norway. The village is located on the southeastern coast of the island of Nøtterøy. The village lies about to the northeast of the village of Torød and about to the southe ...

on the east coast. Historically, the island was part of the old

Nøtterøy Municipality Nøtterøy is a former municipality in Vestfold county, Norway. The island municipality existed from 1838 until its dissolution on 1 January 2018. The area is now part of Færder Municipality. The administrative centre was the village of Borgh ...

which existed from 1838 until 1 January 2018 when it became part of

Transportation

The island is connected to the mainland by the

Tønsberg Canal Bridge Tønsberg Canal Bridge ( or just ) is a double-leaf bascule bridge in Tønsberg Municipality in Vestfold county, Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsul ...

. The Vrengensund Bridge connects Nøtterøy to the island of Tjøme to the south. There is also a ferry between the village of Tenvik on the southwestern coast of Nøtterøy and the island of

Veierland Veierland is a populated, Car-free islands, car-free island in Færder Municipality in Vestfold county, Norway. The island is located in the Tønsbergfjorden, between the mainland (to the west), the island of Tjøme (island), Tjøme (to the east ...

in the

. In the summer, there is also a ferry between Tenvik and Engø in

Sandefjord Municipality Sandefjord () is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Vestfold county, Norway. It is located in the Traditional districts of Norway, traditional district of Vestfold. The administrative centre of the municipality is the Sandefjord ...

on the mainland to the southwest of Nøtterøy. Nøtterøy is also connected to the islands of

Føynland Føynland is an island in Færder Municipality in Vestfold county, Norway. The island lies in between the large island of Nøtterøy and the smaller island of Husøy (in Tønsberg Municipality). The island is connected to the two neighboring ...

and Husøy to the northeast by a bridge.

History

The island of Nøtterøy has been inhabited for thousands of years. The areas along the sea were first populated and many burial mounds have been found, especially in the

areas. Søndre Hella on the western coast of the island has one of the largest burial mounds on the island, likely with more than 20 graves from the

Early Iron Age The Iron Age () is the final epoch of the three historical Metal Ages, after the Chalcolithic and Bronze Age. It has also been considered as the final age of the three-age division starting with prehistory (before recorded history) and progr ...

. Nøtterøy was an important location for

telegraphy Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages where the sender uses symbolic codes, known to the recipient, rather than a physical exchange of an object bearing the message. Thus flag semaphore is a method of telegraphy, whereas pi ...

during the

Gunboat War The Gunboat War (, , Swedish: ''Kanonbåtskriget''; 1807–1814) was a naval conflict between Denmark–Norway and Great Britain supported by Sweden during the Napoleonic Wars. The war's name is derived from the Danish tactic of employing sm ...

between

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

and

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...

from 1807 to 1814, when two telegraph stations were on the island at its two highest points: Vardås and Vetan. During

World War II 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 ...

, the Germans planned three gun emplacements on Vardås, which were to have a range of . Only one of the cannons was completed before liberation in 1945.

Name

The original name of the island was the

Old Norse Old Norse, also referred to as Old Nordic or Old Scandinavian, was 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 ...

name or simply . The first element is the verb which means "to enjoy" or "to receive benefit from". The last element is which means "island". Historically, the name of the municipality was spelled ''Nøtterø'', using the Riksmal spelling. On 3 November 1917, a royal resolution changed the spelling of the name of the municipality to ''Nøtterøy''. The letter ''y'' was added to the end of the word to "Norwegianize" the name ( is the Danish word for "island" and is the Norwegian word).

Nature

The bedrock of the island consists of

monzonite Monzonite is an igneous intrusive rock, formed by slow cooling of underground magma that has a moderate silica content and is enriched in alkali metal oxides. Monzonite is composed mostly of plagioclase and alkali feldspar. Syenodiorite is an ...

rocks: gray to blue-gray

larvikite Larvikite is an igneous rock, specifically a variety of monzonite, notable for the presence of thumbnail-sized crystals of feldspar. These feldspars are known as ''ternary'' because they contain significant components of all three endmember fe ...

and reddish-brown tønsbergite. It also includes some smaller parts of

pegmatite A pegmatite is an igneous rock showing a very coarse texture, with large interlocking crystals usually greater in size than and sometimes greater than . Most pegmatites are composed of quartz, feldspar, and mica, having a similar silicic c ...

(which may have gem-developed

feldspar Feldspar ( ; sometimes spelled felspar) is a group of rock-forming aluminium tectosilicate minerals, also containing other cations such as sodium, calcium, potassium, or barium. The most common members of the feldspar group are the ''plagiocl ...

or moonstone) and

diabase Diabase (), also called dolerite () or microgabbro, is a mafic, holocrystalline, subvolcanic rock equivalent to volcanic basalt or plutonic gabbro. Diabase dikes and sills are typically shallow intrusive bodies and often exhibit fine-gra ...

. The landscape is slightly hilly, especially in the south and west, reaching its highest point at Veten which reaches above sea level. Along the sea and other places where the rocky hills have little vegetation, there are large, clear scour marks from the last

ice age An ice age is a long period of reduction in the temperature of Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental and polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers. Earth's climate alternates between ice ages, and g ...

. The flora on the island is very rich and diverse.

Media gallery

Aaroysund.jpg, Årøysund area Munkerekka.jpg, Munkerekka Tenvik brygge.jpg, Tenvik harbour

References