The Trångfors Area
In the 1600s, it became popular among merchants and noblemen to buy a smelting hut and expand it into a small industry—an ironworks. In Europe, there was a great demand for iron, and everything that was produced could be sold.
However, not everyone bought already established smelting huts. Some wanted to start a completely new hammer mill instead. North of Hallstahammar lies Trångfors. In the 1620s, merchant Adolf Willemson from Västerås received privileges to start a bar iron hammer mill here.
Adolf was a councilor and mayor of Västerås and not a miner at all. He knew very little about iron production. However, he had a strong network among other merchants and miners in Norberg. This allowed him to trade his grain and salted foodstuffs for pig iron to use in his hammer mill.
But making the hammer mill profitable was not as easy as he had thought. It was small, with only three employees, and he had to pay taxes to the Board of Mines. Four skeppund (680 kg) of the bar iron he managed to produce went directly to taxes.
Both Adolf and his son, who had the same name and eventually took over operations, wrote several times to the Board of Mines, which had granted the privilege, asking for a tax reduction—but without success.
Taxes were not their only problem. Working with iron required an open flame, and several times the entire hammer mill caught fire and burned down. Adolf was forced to borrow money to keep operations running. But he did not give up and kept fighting.
When Adolf the Younger and his wife Stina passed away, and the estate had to pay off all debts, the heirs had no choice but to let lender Lars Olofsson take over the entire hammer mill.
In the following years, many owners ended up in debt. A small hammer mill, which according to its privileges was not allowed to produce as much iron as they wished, was difficult to keep profitable.
At the end of the 18th century, when Strömsholm Canal was built, Trångfors, like several other ironworks, was split in half by the canal. Both residential houses and the smithy had to be demolished. The manor house was relocated to Åsby nearby.
However, a new smithy could be built on the same site as before. A wooden channel from the canal to the hammer mill allowed them to use the canal’s water for their waterwheel.
THE LANCASHIRE FURNACE – REFINING FURNACE
In England, where forests were scarce and charcoal was hard to come by, a researcher had developed a method for making iron using coal as fuel. The coal raised the furnace temperature enough that the iron could be pressed together—rolled—while still very hot. This type of iron was easier to forge and had better quality than earlier iron.
In 1875, Lancashire forging was introduced in Trångfors, and production increased dramatically. By 1900, production peaked at 3,100 tons. However, the smithy was shut down as early as 1915.
FACTS
A Lancashire smithy from 1875 with a waterwheel.
One of the smithy’s four Lancashire hearths has been restored, along with the two waterwheels and the water channel. The large mumbling hammer has been given a new foundation.
In the future, demonstrations of pig iron refining and the welding of iron blooms will take place in the smithy. Next to the smithy, in the former spark room, there is now a cozy venue with an open fireplace available for rent and gatherings.
The “Labbit,” located above the smithy, was once the resting room for blacksmiths between work shifts and has now been converted into a meeting room. The wall paintings were created by Gunnar Hall.
Nearby is the coal house from 1800, where coal wagons drove straight in and dumped their loads from the bridges running under the roof.
Every summer in June, the traditional event “An Evening by the Charcoal Kiln” takes place in the coal barn, and in August, “Trångfors Day” is celebrated, when the buildings are opened for demonstrations of the smithy’s operations. If the water level in the canal is sufficient, the steamship REX also participates.
Trångfors smithy is open on Mondays from 08:00 to 12:00, May to September. To book a tour of the old Trångfors power station, contact the Svedvi Berg local heritage association.
“Trångfors Day” is held on the third Sunday in August. Cycling and hiking trails run along the canal.
