Kärrgruvan: Norbergs gruvmuseum / Svinryggens gruvor / Polhemshjulet

Kärrgruvan: Norberg Mining museum /  Svinryggen mines / The Polhem wheel

It was once said that Norberg had so many mines that they could not be counted. Not only that, but the ore in the mountains was shallow and easily accessible. At the beginning of the 1600s, most of the mines here were less than 6 meters deep.

Svinryggen mines
In Svinryggen, the ore was so easy to access that miners abandoned the mine shafts as soon as they reached a level where water started seeping in or the ore became too difficult to transport out. Here, horses with sleds were used to carry the ore, unlike in many other mines where workers had to carry it in heavy barrels on their backs or on special ore stretchers. Instead, a new mine shaft was dug next to the old one. This is why the mine shafts in Svinryggen, located along a mountain ridge, are lined up like a string of pearls on both sides of the enchanting trail. There are 18 mine shafts here, dating back to the early Middle Ages.

Norberg mining museum / Mossgruveparken
Mossgruveparken still features facilities from the 1800s, including the forge, rest hut, cable winch, lift, and parts of the pump system. One of the richest iron ore fields in Norberg is located at Mossgruvan, which also has a mining museum. Ore was mined here from the Middle Ages until the early 1900s. Buildings from the late 1800s still remain. The trails wind along steep, water-filled mine shafts and open pits.

Originally, Risberg pump shaft shaft was a water pumping shaft for Mossgruvan, built in 1876 over a 114-meter-deep shaft. The shaft is called a “pump shaft” not because it resembles a painting but because the word “konst” (art) derives from “kunna” (to be able), reflecting the great skill and knowledge required to pump water from the mine. Today, the building that once protected the shaft from the elements still retains much of its original interior and now serves as a museum. Visitors can learn about how mining work was conducted.

The Polhem wheel
When mining ore in a mine, water begins to seep into the tunnels as miners go deeper below ground. The Risberg Field was the first in Norberg to coordinate water pumping across multiple mines. In 1777, the first shaft was blasted, connecting three mines so that water from all three could be pumped up through the same shaft.

A hundred years later, Christopher Polhem’s ingenious idea was implemented to pump water out of the mine. The pumps were powered by a massive waterwheel, which received water from Bålsjön, three kilometers away. A crank on the waterwheel’s hub was connected to long rods mounted on a high structure. These rods were joined together so they stretched from the waterwheel all the way to the mine. As the waterwheel turned, the rods moved back and forth. The movement of the rods powered the pumps in the mine, which removed water. The massive waterwheel operated day and night. A narrow iron rod along the pump system held a bell that rang constantly. If the pump system stopped moving, the bell would stop ringing, allowing workers to quickly attend to the mine to prevent flooding.

The waterwheel from 1876, along with part of the pump system, remains intact. A key to access the wheelhouse of Polhem’s Waterwheel can be borrowed during the summer from the nearby kiosk.

Norbergs soundmuseum- listen to the sites stories through sound guides (Swedish only)

Due to a collapse in the mines near Norbergs Gruvmuseum, the Mining Museum is currently closed.

Photo: Top image + small picture 1 & 4 : Fredrik Findahl, no 2: Malin Slotte