Lienshytte masugn
The Lienshytte blast-furnace.
Opening times:
In July every Wed at 18, a guided tour
inside the blast furnace and around
the slag hill. For more info and guided tours contact +46 (0)222-133 30.
More information at the tourist office
+46 (0)450 45 or Skinnskatteberg tourism.
The Lienshytte blast furnace at Riddarhytten has a long history. In the early 17th century, Tomas Hammarsmed obtained the right to set up a smelting works and forge here, where there was also a flour mill and a sawmill.
In the 1840s, demand for the iron ore at Riddarhytten suddenly soared, and a new blast furnace was built in the narrow ravine that led to the dam on lake Lien. In 1894, a firm of engineers, Qvist & Goers, conducted extensive rebuilding work. The blast furnace was given an impressive shaft measuring 25 m in length. The works continued operating until 1959, and the blast furnace was fuelled with charcoal right to the end.
Following restoration work, visitors may now climb up to the top of the blast furnace. The enormous slag heap is still impressive, and one of the best preserved in Bergslagen.
The site had an ingenious system of cable-ways and railways. In 1887, the Riddarhytten company started work on a narrow-gauge railway (Uttersberg-Riddarhyttan, URJ), which was an extension of the Köping-Uttersberg railway (KUJ). Nearby is the restored 1093 engine shed, complete with water tower.
The building was sold to a private buyer in the 1990s and since then has been lovingly restored. It now has a café serving home-made bread and sandwiches, together with a craft shop and a second-hand-books shop. At the top of the tower is a museum on the history of the engine shed.
