Mellingsetra

There was an old road between Mellingsetra and Orkdalen, it is probably this road Pilegrimsleden is following today. When we come over the hill and down to Mellingsetra, we encounter a small hamlet with few houses and no permanent settlement. This has not always been the case. The place was previously a farm that was established in the Middle Ages, but was deserted during the Black Death in 1349. When times got better, the land was included under the farm Mellingen, hence the name.

But when we hear about Mellingsetra in the 17th century, there seems to have been two separate farms here owned by the monastery at Rein. There must have been a lot of activity here, despite the dirt road being small. They had their own mill and there was also a sawmill here, but the sawmill was not owned by the farms, it was run by the bailiffs Lorch and Friis. When Trondheim burned in 1651 there was a great need for timber and the forest was cut down and a few years later the sawmill was closed down.

At this time, around the middle of the 17th century, 10-12 people lived here, 250 years later, in 1900, the number of inhabitants was over 40. There must have been prosperity at Mellingsetra. Even if the dirt road was small, they had significant pastures in the surrounding areas and there was good grazing. During the quarrying period at Løkken they likely also received income from burning coal for the smelting works at Svorkmo. A story of a bridal crown at Mellingsetra that must have been the largest and finest in the whole village hints at the prosperity at Mellingsetra. A more important sign of the prosperity is that one of the two farms in 1711 had 3 horses, 16 cows, 2 oxen, 6 sheep and 5 goats. It was a large herd considering the conditions of the time.