Ramnäs Ironworks
Beautiful works area with Lancashire forge and two well-preserved manors, Schenströmska and Tersmedenska, both offering conference and hotel facilities. There is also a crafts house with smithy and pottery, Kuskens Inn & Café as well as building conservation activities.
The first hammer, Kungshammaren, was built in 1590 by Katarina Stenbock, dowager queen to King Gustav Vasa, who had given her the area as her widow’s pension.
Pig iron was transported from the smelting-houses in the north, and soon additional hammer forges were built by the rushing water in Ramnäs. In the 17th century, there were five forges on this site.
In the 18th century, the ironworks was owned by the Schenström and Tersmeden families, and grand manors were constructed. The Schenström manor on the western side of the river dates from 1762, and the Tersmedien manor on the eastern side was built in empire style in the 19th century. Per Reinhold Tersmeden became the sole owner of the works in 1834 and developed Ramnäs into one of Sweden’s leading producers of bar iron. A rolling mill was added in 1868. Eventually, chain became one of Ramnäs’ major products, still made here today.
The footbridge over the rapids remains and was used by the workers for quick access to the forges. However, the two ropeways for carrying charcoal from the coal sheds are gone. So is the 2.3-kilometre ropeway from Stormossen to Lake Nadden, where peat was loaded onto barges for further transport on the canal in the 1920’s. The canal was dug a short distance from the rushing water that provided the hammer forges with power.
