Utvær is an
island group in
Solund Municipality in
Vestland
Vestland is a Counties of Norway, county in Norway. The county is located in Western Norway, and its administrative centre is Bergen, where the executive and political leadership is based. The County governor (Norway), County Governor is based in ...
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 ...
. It is the westernmost
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 ...
in Norway. The main residential area on the rocky islands is also called Utvær. It lies on the western side of the
Sognesjøen which is the mouth of the vast
Sognefjorden. It is about west of the municipal centre of
Hardbakke. The entire archipelago is protected as the Utvær
nature reserve
A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, funga, or features of geologic ...
.
Historically, Utvær had a very robust
fishing
Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment (Freshwater ecosystem, freshwater or Marine ecosystem, marine), but may also be caught from Fish stocking, stocked Body of water, ...
industry and in 1858, the greater Utvær area was split off from the municipality of
Eivindvig to become its own municipality known as Utvær. On 1 July 1890, the municipality's name was changed and now the municipality is known as
Solund.
Holmebåen is the westernmost point in Norway (when you don't count
Jan Mayen
Jan Mayen () is a Norway, Norwegian volcanic island in the Arctic Ocean with no permanent population. It is long (southwest-northeast) and in area, partly covered by glaciers (an area of around the Beerenberg volcano). It has two parts: la ...
). It is located on the island of Steinsøy in the western part of Utvær.
Utvær Lighthouse is also located in the island group. The old
Utvær Chapel was historically located in Utvær as well, but it has since been moved closer to the mainland.
History
In 1066, King
Harald Hardråde gathered his naval forces at Utvær as he prepared for an invasion of
England
England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
. He took 200 naval boats plus supply boats from Utvær and its surrounding islands and sailed to the southwest towards England.
Media gallery
Utvær - S-1602U4 1 15.jpg
Utvær - S-1602U4 1 16.jpg
Utvær - S-1602U4 1 17.jpg
Utvær, 1913. (8422302869).jpg
Utvær, 1913. (8423399802).jpg
Admiralty Chart No 2291 Norway west coast sheet 2 Bergen to Stav Fiord, Published 1874.jpg
Admiralty Chart No 509 Norway, west coast Blomö (Blomøyna) to Utvaer, Published 1895.jpg
Utvær fyr 3.jpg
Utvær fyr 4.jpg
Utvær fyr 6.jpg
Utvær fyr 8.jpg
See also
*
List of islands of Norway
References
Solund
Islands of Vestland
{{Vestland-island-stub