Cultural Heritage

Svorkmo Smeltehytte | Svorkmo Smelting Hut

Situated along Gudbrandsdalsleden
Industrial history: Three smelting furnaces and two churches.

Distance

By the trail

Open

allways

Where the Gudbrandsdalsleden crosses the river Svorka is meets the Svorkmo smelting hut. Copper ore came here from the Løkken copper works. Three smelting huts were located here from 1657 to 1844 and the finished ore was transported to Trondheim by local farmers - in winter by sledge and in summer by pack animals. The Svorkmo farm was turned into a "mining" farm and together with the northern Skjølberg farm, the two farms became the center of mining operations at Løkken. The forests around the entire area were used for charcoal burning and firewood. the wood was used to fire up the mountain so that the ore could be extracted. The coal was used in the smelting huts.

In order to be allowed to start the mining business, to get a "letter of privilege" as it was called, the mine owners had to build a church. "Løkken Kobberverks church was built on Sckankebakken, which is located near the hill where the Gudbrandsdalsleden came down to the river. In 1816, a large flood came as a surprise to the congregation and the cemetery collapsed in the middle of the Pentecost service on 3th June. The following year, a new church was built, it was built on Smedhaugen. It was located about one kilometer north of the old one and was in use until 1866.

The work was also required to run a school for the work's children, and here at Svorkmo a separate school was built for the children, one of the first permanent schools in the country. But when the work was closed down in 1844, the school was also closed down and the children were sent to a community school.

Today there is little left of the facility, but something remains, here there are information signs and seating, a suitable place for a break before the road continues towards Trondheim.