Sande or Sande i Vestfold is a village in
Holmestrand Municipality
is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Vestfold, Norway. It is located in the Traditional districts of Norway, traditional district of Jarlsberg. The administrative centre of the municipality is the Holmestrand (town), town of Ho ...
in
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 village is located along the ''Sandebukta'' bay off 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 ...
about south of
Oslo
Oslo ( or ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of 1,064,235 in 2022 ...
(about 50 minutes driving time). There are several nearby villages around Sande including the villages of
Klever and
Eikeberg about to the north, the village of
Selvik about to the southeast, the
town of Holmestrand about to the south, and the village of
Hof about to the west. The
European route E18
European route E18 runs between Craigavon, County Armagh, Craigavon in Northern Ireland and Saint Petersburg in Russia, passing through Scotland, England, Norway, Sweden and Finland. It is about in length.
Although the designation implies the ...
highway and the
Vestfoldbanen
The Vestfold Line () is a railway line which runs between Drammen and Eidanger in Norway. The line connects to the Drammen Line at the northern terminus at Drammen Station and continues as the Bratsberg Line past Skien Station. The line is e ...
railway line both past through the village of Sande.
The village has a population (2023) of 2,342 and a
population density
Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geog ...
of .
In recent years the village of Sande has grown significantly due to many new apartments and stores.
The newspaper ''
Sande Avis'' is published in Sande.
Portions of the 1973 ''
Olsenbanden'' movie ''
Olsenbanden tar gull
The ''Olsen Gang'' (, ) is a Danish comedy film series created by Danish director Erik Balling and special effects expert Henning Bahs about the eponymous fictional criminal gang. The gang's leader is the criminal genius and habitual offender ...
'' from were filmed in Sande. Another portion was filmed in
Stavern
Stavern is a town in Larvik Municipality in Vestfold county, Norway. The town is located at the mouth of the Larviksfjorden along the Skagerrak coast, about south of the town of Larvik. Historically, Stavern was a self-governing municipality ...
.
History
Finds from the
Stone Age
The Stone Age was a broad prehistory, prehistoric period during which Rock (geology), stone was widely used to make stone tools with an edge, a point, or a percussion surface. The period lasted for roughly 3.4 million years and ended b ...
indicate that the settlement in the area is up to 6,000–7,000 years old. The village was formerly called ''Angr'' (meaning "
fjord
In physical geography, a fjord (also spelled fiord in New Zealand English; ) is a long, narrow sea inlet with steep sides or cliffs, created by a glacier. Fjords exist on the coasts of Antarctica, the Arctic, and surrounding landmasses of the n ...
"), but was later named after the rectory farm called "Sandvin". About 400 ancient artefacts and
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. ...
have been found in several places around Sande. The rock carvings on Sjøl are the only known carving field from the
Bronze Age
The Bronze Age () was a historical period characterised principally by the use of bronze tools and the development of complex urban societies, as well as the adoption of writing in some areas. The Bronze Age is the middle principal period of ...
between
Bærum
Bærum () is a list of municipalities of Norway, municipality in the Greater Oslo Region in Akershus County, Norway. It forms an affluent suburb of Oslo on the west coast of the city. Bærum is Norway's fifth largest municipality with a populatio ...
and
Sandefjord
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 ...
.
The village was the
administrative centre
An administrative centre is a seat of regional administration or local government, or a county town, or the place where the central administration of a commune, is located.
In countries with French as the administrative language, such as Belgi ...
of the old
Sande Municipality which existed from 1838 until 2020 when the municipality became part of
Holmestrand Municipality
is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Vestfold, Norway. It is located in the Traditional districts of Norway, traditional district of Jarlsberg. The administrative centre of the municipality is the Holmestrand (town), town of Ho ...
.
Name
The municipality (originally the
parish
A parish is a territorial entity in many Christianity, Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest#Christianity, priest, often termed a parish pries ...
) is named after the old ''Sande'' farm () since the first
Sande Church was built there. The first element comes from the word which means "
sand
Sand is a granular material composed of finely divided mineral particles. Sand has various compositions but is usually defined by its grain size. Sand grains are smaller than gravel and coarser than silt. Sand can also refer to a textural ...
". The last element comes from the word which means "
meadow
A meadow ( ) is an open habitat or field, vegetated by grasses, herbs, and other non- woody plants. Trees or shrubs may sparsely populate meadows, as long as they maintain an open character. Meadows can occur naturally under favourable con ...
" or "
pasture
Pasture (from the Latin ''pastus'', past participle of ''pascere'', "to feed") is land used for grazing.
Types of pasture
Pasture lands in the narrow sense are enclosed tracts of farmland, grazed by domesticated livestock, such as horses, c ...
".
Sande Church

The medieval era
Sande Church is located in the village of Sande. The parish is part of the
Nord-Jarlsberg prosti. The building material is stone and brick, and it was built in 1150. In 1783, the church burned down; only the walls remained. Over the next eight years, it was rebuilt, and 1860 the church was refurnished. But the older altarpiece, baptismal font, and pulpit were retained. The pulpit is also from 1783 and features Rococo-style carvings. The font of soapstone is the only medieval inventory preserved.
References
External links
*
*
{{use dmy dates, date=February 2024
Holmestrand
Villages in Vestfold