Vestfold () is a county and a current electoral district in Norway. Located on the western shore of the Oslofjord, it borders Buskerud and Telemark counties. The county administration is located in Tønsberg, Norway's oldest city,[Norum, Roger (2011). Frommer's Norway. Frommer's. Page 4. .][Evensberget, Snorre (2012). DK Eyewitness Travel Guide: Norway. Penguin. Page 230. .][Ham, Anthony and Stuart Butler (2015). Lonely Planet Norway. Lonely Planet. Page 87. .] and the largest city is Sandefjord. With the exception of the city-county of Oslo, Vestfold is the smallest county in Norway by area.
Vestfold is located west of the Oslofjord, as the name indicates. It includes many smaller, but well-known towns in Norway, such as Holmestrand, Horten, Åsgårdstrand, Tønsberg, Sandefjord, Larvik and Stavern; these towns run from Oslo in an almost constant belt of urban areas along the coast, ending in Grenland in neighbouring county Telemark. The river Numedalslågen runs through the county. Many islands are located at the coast. Vestfold is mostly dominated by lowland and is among the best agricultural areas of Norway. Winters last about three months, while pleasant summer temperatures last from May to September, with a July average high of 17 °C (63 °F).
Vestfold is traditionally known for shipping and sailing. Sandefjord was formerly a headquarters for the Norwegian whaling fleet, and Horten used to be Norway's main Navy. The coastal towns of Vestfold now engage in fishing and shipbuilding. Some lumbering is carried on in the interior. The area also includes some of the best farmland in Norway.
Vestfold was until 2019 the only county in which all municipalities had declared Bokmål to be their sole official orthography of the Norwegian language.[ Vestfold County (Vestfold University College) ] From its re-establishment in 2024, Vestfold is the only county in Norway to have Bokmål as the official written form.
Vestfold merged with neighboring Telemark on 1 January 2020 as part of a nationwide municipal reform. The new county name was Vestfold og Telemark.
Etymology
Vestfold is the old name of the region which was revived in modern times.
Fold was the old name of the
Oslofjord, and the meaning of the name
Vestfold is the region west of the Fold (see also Østfold). Before 1919, the county was called
Jarlsberg og Larvik Amt. The amt was created in 1821, consisting of the two old counties of
Jarlsberg and
Larvik.
In the Viking Age, Vestfold also referred to
Eiker,
Drammen,
Kongsberg, Lier, now in
Buskerud.
[ Vol. XIII: A History Of Norway And The Passion And Miracles of the Blessed Óláfr Anthony Faulkes and Richard Perkins (Viking Society for Northern Research), p. 128)][ Vestfold - gammelt navn , snl.no]
Vestfold Hills on Antarctica's Sørsdal Glacier is named after the county.
History
Viking history
Vestfold is mentioned for the first time in a written source in 813, when Danish kings were in Vestfold to quell an uprising amongst the Fürsts .
There may have been as many as six political centers in Vestfold. At that time Kaupang, which was located in Tjølling near Larvik, had been functioning for decades and had a chieftain.
Kaupang, which dates from the
Viking Age, is believed to be the first town in Norway, although Tønsberg (which dates from ca. 900) is the oldest town in Norway still in existence. At Borre, there was a site for another chieftain. That site held chieftains for more than one hundred years prior to 813.
The stone mounds at Mølen have been dated to the Viking Age.
An English source from around 890 retells the voyage of Ottar ( Ottar fra Hålogaland) "from the farthest North, along Norvegr via Kaupang and Hedeby to England", where Ottar places Kaupang in the land of the Danes - danenes land.
By the 10th century, the local kings had established themselves. The king or his ombudsman resided in the old Royal Court at Sæheim i Sem, today the Jarlsberg Estate ( Jarlsberg Hovedgård) in Tønsberg. The farm Haugar (from Old Norse haugr meaning hill or mound) became the seat for Haugating, the Thing for Vestfold and one of Norway's most important place for the proclamation of kings.
The Danish kings seem to have been weak in Vestfold from around the middle of the 9th century until the middle of the 10th century, but their rule was strengthened there at the end of the 10th century.
Kings ruling some or all of Vestfold
-
Erik Agnarsson
-
Halfdan Hvitbeinn (part of Vestfold)
-
Eystein Halfdansson
-
Halfdan the Mild
-
Gudrød the Hunter
-
Halfdan the Black, together with his brother, Olaf Gudrødsson
-
Ragnvald the Mountain-High, Cousin of Harold Fairhair
-
Harald Fairhair
-
Bjørn Farmann
-
Olaf Haraldsson Geirstadalf, brother of Bjørn
-
Harald Gudrødsson Grenske, 976–987
Whaling
Whaling was an important 19th century industry in coastal cities such as
Larvik, Tønsberg, and
Sandefjord, which was the world centre for the world's modern whaling industry. Not only did men from Vestfold County make up practically all the crew on the Norwegian whaling fleet, but many were also involved in the whaling industry in other nations.
[Tønnessen, Johan Nicolay and Arne Odd Johnsen (1982). The History of Modern Whaling. University of California Press. Page 25. .] As an example, the first phase of modern Australian whaling was almost entirely based on workers from Larvik.
[Tønnessen, Johan Nicolay and Arne Odd Johnsen (1982). The History of Modern Whaling. University of California Press. Page 222. .] While the first whaling station in the
Faroe Islands was established by Sandefjordians,
[Joensen, Jóan Pauli (2009). Pilot Whaling in the Faroe Islands: History, Ethnography, Symbol. Faroe University Press. Page 225. .] Larvik played a similar role for the
Shetland Islands. Tønsberg initiated much of the whaling industry in
Iceland and the
Hebrides.
[Tønnessen, Johan Nicolay and Arne Odd Johnsen (1982). The History of Modern Whaling. University of California Press. Page 84. .]
The largest settlement in South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, Grytviken, was established by Carl Anton Larsen of Sandefjord on 16 November 1904.[Headland, Robert (1992). The Island of South Georgia. CUP Archive. Page 130. .]
Sandefjord Harbor is now home to Southern Actor, the only whale-catcher from the Modern Whaling Epoch still to be in its original order.[Philpott, Don (1991). Visitor's Guide: Norway. Moorland. Page 76. .][Holskjær, Lars (2017). Kamper uten tall. Forlagshuset i Vestfold. Page 8. .] and has been nicknamed "the whaling capital of the world."[Engel, Lyle Kenyon (1963). Scandinavia: A Simon & Schuster Travel Guide. Cornerstone Library. Page 145.][Ryder, Simon and Cameron Duffy (2018). Insight Guides Norway. Insight Guides. Page 163. .][Alspaugh, Emmanuelle (2006). Fodor's Norway. Fodor's Travel Publications. Page 73. .][Bertelsen, Hans Kristian (1985). Sandefjord: A modern city with vast potential. Grafisk Studio. Page 81. .]
Geography
Vestfold is Norway's smallest county, with the exception of the city-county of
Oslo. It lies on the western shore of the
Oslofjord. Vestfold borders with
Buskerud fylke in the north and with
Telemark fylke in the west. It is bordered by
Skagerrak in the
North Sea to both the south and east. The county has a total area of and has a coastline.
Vestfjellet at is the tallest peak in the county. It is also home to 1,407 islands.
Nøtterøy () is the largest island in Vestfold, while Tjøme () is the second-largest island.
[Bertelsen, Hans Kristian (1998). Bli kjent med Vestfold / Become acquainted with Vestfold. Stavanger Offset AS. Page 191. .]
There is a total of 634 freshwater lakes in Vestfold, with a total area of 79 square kilometers. Large lakes include Farris, Eikeren, Goksjø, Hallevannet, Akersvannet, and others. Vestfold makes up 0.7 percent of Norway's total land area. Ten Norwegian municipalities are larger in size than Vestfold County.
Geology
The county's soft soil is composed of varieties of moraine and sedimentary soils. The Ice Age left large parts of Vestfold below sea level, and the most cultivated soil can be found on the marine terraces. Marine clay and sand cover most of the lower lying country in the south-west and north. The Vestfold moraine, a continuation of the Østfold moraine at Moss, is an ice-formed formation which stretches as a cohesive gravel ridge through the county, from
Horten in the east to Mølen in the south.
Preserved areas
Færder National Park was the county's first national park when the decision was formalized by King Harald V on 23 August 2013.
The visitor center is at
Verdens Ende, and was officially opened by Queen Sonja on 26 June 2015.
The national park lies in Nøtterøy- and Tjøme municipalities, and is made up of of ocean and of land. It stretches from Ormøy in the north to Færder Lighthouse in the south.
It is one of two marine national parks in Norway, and is made up of coast, skerries, islands and sea bed.
Mølen in Larvik is home to Norway's largest stone beach
(Page 26).
Municipalities
Vestfold has experienced a large reduction in number of municipalities. As of 1949, the county was home to 19 rural municipalities and 7 city municipalities. There were 14 municipalities as of 2016, but the number decreased to 6 as of 2024. Vestfold has the least amount of municipalities of any county in Norway.
-
Holmestrand Municipality
-
Horten Municipality
-
Tønsberg Municipality
-
Færder Municipality
-
Sandefjord Municipality
-
Larvik Municipality
Towns and cities
-
Holmestrand
-
Horten
-
Larvik
-
Sandefjord
-
Stavern
-
Tønsberg
-
Åsgårdstrand
Villages
Parishes
-
Andebu
-
Arnadal (Arendal)
-
Berg
-
Borre
-
Botne
-
Brunlanes
-
Fon
-
Fredricksværn, see Stavern
-
Hedrum
-
Hem
-
Hillestad
-
Hof
-
Holmestrand
-
Horten
-
Hvarnes
-
Høyjord
-
Kjose
-
Kodal
-
Konnerud
-
Kvelde
-
Langestrand
-
Lardal
-
Larvik
-
Nykirke
-
Nøtterøy
-
Ramnes
-
Sandar
-
Sande
-
Sandefjord
-
Sandeherred, see Sandar
-
Sankt Laurentii
-
Sem
-
Skjee
-
Skoger
-
Slagen
-
Stavern
-
Stokke
-
Strømm (Strømmen)
-
Strømsgodset
-
Styrvoll
-
Svarstad
-
Svelvik
-
Tanum
-
Tjølling
-
Tjøme
-
Tønsberg
-
Undrumsdal
-
Valløy
-
Vassås
-
Vivestad
-
Vor Frue (Maria)
-
Våle
-
Åsgårdstrand
-
Larvik Branch (LDS, early-1927)
-
Tønsberg Branch (LDS, early-1951)
-
Larvik (Katolske Apostoliske, 1888–1963)
Former municipalities
-
Andebu Municipality
-
Borre Municipality
-
Botne Municipality
-
Brunlanes Municipality
-
Hedrum Municipality
-
Hof Municipality
-
Lardal Municipality
-
Nøtterøy Municipality
-
Ramnes Municipality
-
Sandar Municipality
-
Sem Municipality
-
Skoger Municipality
-
Stavern
-
Stokke Municipality
-
Strømm Municipality
-
Tjølling Municipality
-
Tjøme Municipality
-
Våle Municipality
-
Åsgårdstrand Municipality
Political strength
Results from parliamentary elections in Vestfold County since 1973:
Bold letters represent the alliances (Leftwing Arbeiderpartiet+SV. Centre KrF+V+Senterpartiet. Rightwing H+Frp). M = Number of elected parliamentarians.
|
|
| 1973 | 33,8 | 8,9 | 42,7 | 3 | 10,3 | 3,0 | 7,6 | 20,9 | 2 | 26,5 | 6,6 | 33,1 | 2 |
| 1977 | 39,8 | 2,6 | 42,4 | 3 | 10,2 | 2,8 | 7,2 | 20,2 | 1 | 33,7 | 2,0 | 35,7 | 3 |
| 1981 | 33,9 | 2,9 | 36,8 | 3 | 8,2 | 3,2 | 4,2 | 15,6 | 0 | 41,9 | 4,7 | 46,6 | 4 |
| 1985 | 35,4 | 4,0 | 39,4 | 3 | 7,0 | 2,7 | 4,4 | 14,1 | 1 | 40,9 | 4,8 | 45,7 | 3 |
| 1989 | 30,1 | 8,3 | 38,4 | 4 | 7,1 | 2,7 | 4,5 | 14,3 | 0 | 28,9 | 16,5 | 45,4 | 3 |
| 1993 | 35,4 | 6,5 | 41,9 | 3 | 6,9 | 2,7 | 13,2 | 22,8 | 1 | 23,1 | 10,3 | 33,2 | 3 |
| 1997 | 33,5 | 5,3 | 38,8 | 3 | 12,5 | 3,2 | 5,6 | 21,3 | 1 | 18,1 | 20,1 | 38,2 | 3 |
| 2001 | 21,6 | 11,6 | 33,2 | 3 | 11,0 | 2,8 | 3,3 | 17,1 | 1 | 25,5 | 18,7 | 44,2 | 4 |
| 2005 | 30,2 | 8,4 | 38,6 | 4 | 6,0 | 5,0 | 3,6 | 14,6 | 0 | 15,3 | 29,3 | 44,6 | 3 |
| 2009 | 33,7 | 6,5 | 40,2 | 4 | 4,7 | 3,0 | 3,2 | 10,9 | 0 | 19,6 | 27,2 | 46,8 | 3 |
| 2013 | 29,6 | 3,8 | 33,4 | 2 | 4,9 | 4,5 | 3,0 | 12,4 | 1 | 30,0 | 19,5 | 49,5 | 4 |
| 2017 | 28,0 | 5,0 | 33,0 | 2 | 3,7 | 3,8 | 6,3 | 13,8 | 1 | 30,1 | 16,9 | 47,0 | 4 |
|
Demographics
According to Statistics Norway, Vestfold County was home to 244,967 residents as of 1 January 2016.
Immigrants made up 11.9 percent of the population in 2017.
Most immigrants were from Poland (4,287 people), followed by Lithuania (2,794) and Iraq (1,549).
Despite its small size, Vestfold had the third-highest population density in Norway.
However, the population density may still have been considered low; as an example, the population density of the
Netherlands was four times higher than that of Vestfold County in 1998.
Sandefjord was the most populous city of Vestfold County;
Economy
Traditional industries in Vestfold have included
whaling and
ship building. For over 50 years in the 19th century,
Sandefjord and partially Tønsberg functioned as the world centre for the whaling industry.
However, whaling ended in the 1960s and the ship building industry has gradually reduced since the 1980s. Information technology is currently a growing industry, and the county is home to large web shops such as
Komplett, MPX.no and netshop.no. 18.9 percent of the county's total area is used for agriculture, the highest percentage of any county in Norway. 70% of agricultural lands are used for the cultivation of grains.
Vestfold's farming area makes up five percent of Norway's cultivated areas. However, by area, Vestfold only makes up 0.7 percent of Norway's land area.
Vestfold has Norway's most expensive vacation homes. Sandefjord had Norway's most expensive vacation homes in 2012, while Tjøme had the most expensive homes as of 2010.
Tourism
Summer tourism is an important industry in Vestfold, particularly in coastal communities such as
Sandefjord, Tjøme and
Stavern. Coastal cities also have large numbers of vacation homes. There were 534,724 hotel stays in 2015, where the purpose was vacationing for 236,895. Most international tourists were from the
United Kingdom,
Sweden, and
Denmark. There were 781,459 stays at rental cabins or campgrounds in 2015.
Consequentially, the population increases drastically during summer months in municipalities such as Sandefjord,
[Jøranlid, Marianne (1996). 40 trivelige turer i Sandefjord og omegn. Vett Viten. Page 27. .] Tjøme, and elsewhere. The population at Tjøme goes from 4,500 to around 50,000 each summer.
The population of islands such as Tjøme often quadruple during summer,
while summer communities as
Stavern often sees a doubling or tripling.
[Evensberget, Snorre (2014). DK Eyewitness Travel Guide: Norway. Penguin. Page 129. .] Tjøme Island is home to nearly as many vacation homes as residential homes.
While Tjøme has the nickname Sommerøya ("the Summer Island"),[Alspaugh, Emmanuelle (2006). Fodor's Norway. Fodor's Travel Publications. Pages F-7 and 73. .] Sandefjord is known for its many great beaches,[McKay, D. (2004). Fodor's Scandinavia. Fodor's Travel Publications. Page 398. .][Alspaugh, Emmanuelle (2006). Fodor's Norway. Fodor's Travel Publications. Page 74. .] and it is primarily known as a summer resort community.[Berman, Martha (1995). Fielding's Scandinavia. Fielding Worldwide. Page 240. .][Ebbesen, Jorgen Tandberg (2018). The Sulphureous Bath at Sandefjord in Norway. Sagwan Press. Page 18. .][Jøranlid, Marianne (1996). 40 trivelige turer i Sandefjord og omegn. Vett Viten. Page 36. .]
Vestfold's most visited tourist attractions include Borre mound cemetery, the largest burial site in Northern Europe, as well as numerous sites along the coast. Architectural sites include the villages of Åsgårdstrand, Karljohansvern in Horten, and Fredriksvern in Stavern. Other important attractions are Sandefjord Whaling Museum, Mølen Geopark in Larvik, as well as Tønsberg Fortress ( Slottsfjellet) in Tønsberg.
Largest companies
Largest companies in Vestfold County based on
operating income in 2015:
|
|
| 1 | Jotun A/S | 16 844 327 |
| 2 | Komplett | 7 256 700 |
| 3 | Kongsberg Maritime AS | 6 957 840 |
| 4 | Asko Vestfold Telemark AS | 4 617 791 |
| 5 | Sykehuset i Vestfold HF | 4 595 010 |
Culture
Vestfold is the county in Norway with the most traces from the
Viking Age.
Examples include the Oseberg- and
Gokstad Mound. While the
Oseberg Ship was discovered in Tønsberg, the
Gokstad Ship was discovered in
Sandefjord. The Gokstad Ship is Norway's largest preserved Viking ship. Both ships are now located at the Viking Ship Museum in Oslo. Additional burial mounds are found at Borre mound cemetery and Mølen, an UNESCO Global Geopark. Borre mound cemetery is home to Northern Europe's largest burial mound site from Viking Age.
Vestfold is home to 21 churches dating to medieval times. It is also home to one stave church, Høyjord Stave Church in Andebu (Sandefjord). Nearby Andebu Church also has Norway's oldest parish register, dating to 1623.[Davidsen, Roger (2008). Et Sted i Sandefjord. Sandar Historielag. Pages 309 and 370. .] and most likely Europe,
The city of Tønsberg is Norway's oldest city, most likely founded in year 871.[Schandy, Tom and Tom Helgesen (2012). Naturperler i Vestfold. Forlaget Tom & Tom v/Schandy. Page 100. .]
Transportation
The
Vestfold Line is a railway line that runs from
Drammen, through a number of towns in Vestfold and ending in the town of Skien in
Telemark. European route E18 runs through the county roughly parallel to the railway.
There are two international ferry connections, both operated by Color Line. Larvik is connected to the Danish town Hirtshals, the other route is between Sandefjord and Strømstad in Sweden. Fjord Line is also a ferry operator between Sandefjord and Strømstad. In addition there is a domestic route connecting Horten and Moss.
Sandefjord Airport Torp is one of Norway's largest airports.[Macmillan (2008). Let's Go 2009 Europe. Let's Go, Inc. Page 737. .] Torp offers direct routes to over 30 international and domestic destinations,
Points of interest
Larvik
-
Bøkeskogen, world's northernmost beech tree forest.
[Bertelsen, Hans Kristian (1998). Bli kjent med Vestfold / Become acquainted with Vestfold. Stavanger Offset AS. Page 63. .][Ham, Anthony and Stuart Butler (2015). Lonely Planet Norway. Lonely Planet. Page 91. .][Schmidt, Martin (2020). Norwegen. Reise Know-How Verlag Peter Rump. Page 113. .]
-
Kaupang, home to remains for the oldest Nordic countries town yet discovered. The remains are from one of Scandinavia's earliest urban sites, established in year 800 A.D.
[Skre, Dagfinn (2007). Kaupang in Skiringssal. Aarhus University Press. Page 13. .][Doreen, Taylor-Wilkie (2018). Insight Guides Norway. Insight. Page 157. .]
-
Mølen, Scandinavia's first UNESCO Global Geopark.
-
Nevlunghavn and Helgeroa, adjacent coastal villages.
-
Larvik Museum
-
Fritzøehus, largest privately owned estate in Norway.
[Aadnevik, Kjell-Einar (2019). Turguide til Larvik og Omegn. Dreyers forlag. Page 92. ISBN 9788282654418.]
-
Stavern, small coastal town, home of Citadellet
-
Fredriksvern, Norway's main naval base from the mid-1750s until 1864.
-
Minnehallen (Hall of Remembrance), largest monument in Vestfold.
Horten
-
Borre National Park, largest burial mound site in Northern Europe.
-
Løvøy Chapel
-
Royal Norwegian Navy Museum
-
Preus Museum
-
Borre Church, romanesque medieval church constructed in the 1100s.
-
Tordenskioldeika
-
Åsgårdstrand, oceanside resort town.
[Fodor (1987). Fodor's Scandinavia 1988. Fodor's Travel Publications. Page 279. .][Nickel, Phyllis and Hans Jakob Valderhaug (2017). Norwegian Cruising Guide—Vol 2: Sweden, West Coast and Norway, Swedish Border to Bergen. Attainable Adventure Cruising Ltd. Pages 85-86. .]
-
Borre Golfbane
Tønsberg and Færder
Sandefjord
-
Sandefjord Museum (the Whaling Museum), Europe's only museum dedicated to whaling.
-
Gokstad Mound, site of the discovery of the 9th-century Gokstad Ship.
-
Gaia ship, replica of the Gokstad Ship docked at Museum's Wharf.
-
Sandar Church, built on ruins of a 13th-century medieval stone church. Present church was erected in 1792.
-
Whaler's Monument, rotating bronze monument erected in honor of pioneering whalers.
-
Sandefjord Church
-
Istrehågan, ancient burial ground which dates to the Roman Iron Age around 1500-500 BCE.
-
Kurbadet, former resort spa and one of Europe's most visited baths in the late 19th century.
-
Folehavna Fort, ruins from a Nazi Germany fortress erected in 1941 during the German occupation of Norway.
-
Høyjord Stave Church, the only stave church left in Vestfold County.
-
Langeby, popular bathing beach at West Island.
-
Goksjø, third-largest lake in Vestfold County.
Archaeological sites
Istrehågan
Istrehågan is an ancient burial ground which dates to the Roman Iron Age around 1500-500 BCE.
It is located at Jåberg in Tjølling, on the border between
Sandefjord and
Larvik.
[Jøranlid, Marianne (1996). 40 trivelige turer i Sandefjord og omegn. Vett Viten. Page 123. .] The rock settings at Istrehågan resemble a ship. It is long, and meters broad. Archaeological excavations made in 1959-61 uncovered
(Page 8). At Haugen farm on the Sandefjord side is Vestfold County's largest collection of
petroglyphs.
[Børresen, Svein E. (2004). Vestfoldboka: en reise i kultur og natur. Skagerrak forl. Page 38. .]
Borre National Park
At Borrehaugene near Borrre there are 9 large mounds and around 30 smaller ones.
It is the largest
burial mound site in
Northern Europe.
Borre mound cemetery most likely contains graves belonging to kings of the Yngling dynasty. It is mentioned in the poem Ynglingatal as the burial site of one of two kings belonging to the royal dynasty of the Ynglingas.[Carver, M.O.H. (1992). The Age of Sutton Hoo: The Seventh Century in North-Western Europe. Boydell Press. Page 301. .]
Kaupang
Kaupang in
Skiringssal (
Larvik) is home to remains from the oldest
Nordic countries town yet discovered.
It was a trade centre established around year 800, making it one of
Scandinavia's earliest urban sites. The settlement was abandoned in the mid-10th century.
It is located in Kaupang Bay in Viksfjord,
Larvik. Archeological finds include melting pots, jewelry parts, casting moulds and casting models.
Most of Kaupang remains not excavated.
There are replicas of Viking homes at Kaupang today, giving insight to how homes were constructed during the
(Page 23).
Oseberg Burial Mound
Oseberg Mound is located in Tønsberg and is where the
Oseberg Ship was discovered. The ship, which dates to 834 A.D., had a length of . Two female skeletons were found in the ship's burial chamber.
Viking burial site at Gulli
Gulli, outside Tønsberg, was the site of an archaeological excavation during the period from 2003 to 2004, prior to asphalt being laid for constructing the new E18 (road).
There were 60 graves - 20 of those were preserved to a degree that authorities permitted examinations.
"Perhaps the most spectacular item was a
høvre" - used with a horse's harness. "There are few of those in Norway - one in Trøndelag and a gilded one found in Borre".
The artifacts are on display at the Midgard Historical Centre in Borre.
Fevang
19th century archeologists were struck by the many burial mounds and artifacts discovered at Fevang near
Torp Airport in
Sandefjord. Local farmers had discovered various artifacts in the 19th- and early 20th centuries. Archeologist Nicolay Nicolaysen traveled to Fevang and concluded that Fevang was home to an array of ancient
burial mounds. Nicolaysen further discovered that Fevang had been an active graveyard for over 1,000 years - since year 0 A.D. until the first Christian cemeteries were established. Among the artifacts discovered were a gold jewel named
Berlokk, which was retrieved in a woman's grave along with two gold beads, two blue glass beads, a hairpin, ceramic, burnt bones, and two clips of bronze. Her tomb is dated to the Old
Iron Age, around 0-400 A.D.
Gokstad Mound
Gokstad Mound in Sandefjord was where the
Gokstad Ship was excavated by Nicolay Nicolaysen in 1880.
[Jøranlid, Marianne (1996). 40 trivelige turer i Sandefjord og omegn. Vett Viten. Page 106. .] The skeleton of a man was found in the ship, long believed to be Olaf Geirstad-Alf, former king of Vestfold and half-brother of Halfdan the Black, the father of
Harald Fairhair, Norway's first king. However, recent discoveries have increased uncertainty and it therefore remains unknown what chieftain was buried at
Gokstad.
[Davidsen, Roger (2008). Et Sted i Sandefjord. Sandar Historielag. Page 210. .]
The ship, which is the largest found in Norway, is currently located at the Viking Ship Museum in Oslo. The ship was buried along with numerous gifts, including weapons, jewels, a gaming board, fish-hooks, 64 shields, six beds, three smaller boats and kitchen utensils. Twelve horses, eight dogs, two goshawks and two peacocks were also discovered in the grave.
Interpretive signs have been put up at the mound and Gaia, an exact replica of the Gokstad Ship, can be seen on Museum's Wharf at Sandefjord Harbor.[Jøranlid, Marianne (1996). 40 trivelige turer i Sandefjord og omegn. Vett Viten. Page 24. .]
Mølen
The Old Norse word
Mol translates to
, a site often used by ancient peoples to mark a burial site. Mølen, which is Norway's largest stone beach, is home to 230 cairns, which have been built over ages. Some cairns have been dated to 250 A.D.
The
isthmus of Mølen is home to stone piles, grave mounds, and stone settings, which are all part of a protected historic site. The last Ice Age pushed large amounts of gravel and stones ahead of it, and deposited it as a
moraine through all of Vestfold, known as
Vestfoldraet.
Raet meets the ocean at Mølen, where the moraine sinks into the sea. Its encounter with the
Skagerrak ocean waves has uncovered and polished the huge round stone floor for centuries.
[Bertelsen, Hans Kristian (1998). Bli kjent med Vestfold / Become acquainted with Vestfold. Stavanger Offset AS. Page 54. .]
Bøkeskogen
Besides being the largest
beech tree forest in
Norway, and the most northernmost beech tree forest in the world,
Bøkeskogen is also an important archeological area. 83-90 burial mounds have been discovered in the forest. Some of these include the largest burial grounds from the Pre-Roman Iron Age in Vestfold County.
Recreation
At least 238 kilometers of coastal hiking trails can be found in Vestfold County, from
Larvik in the south to
Svelvik in the north.
[Larsen, Erlend (2011). På Tur i Vestfold del 2. E-forlag. Page 234. .] Hiking trails are found throughout the county, including at
Verdens Ende in Færder National Park. Furthermore, there is a 35 km (22 mi.) marked trail between the towns of
Stavern and
Helgeroa. Mølen, Kjærrafossen and Bøkeskogen are also home to various trails. Tønsberg Barrel, an old beacon dated to
Sverris saga in the
Middle Ages,
[Larsen, Erlend (2011). På Tur i Vestfold del 2. E-forlag. Pages 297-298. .] sits at Yxnøy on Sandefjord'
(Page 73). Combined, the trails on Sandefjord's East- and West Islands are 45 km (28 mi.), and a part of the international North Sea Trail.
[Mšbius, Aaron and Michael (2014). Norwegen. DuMont Reiseverlag. Page 168. .] Bøkeskogen in
Larvik is home to various trails, varying from 2.6 km (1.6 mi.) to 10 km (6.2 mi.) in length.
Fauna
Vestfold's fauna includes species such as the White-tailed eagle,
Roe deer,
Moose, European hedgehog, Eurasian eagle-owl,
Mountain hare,
European badger, European pine marten, and
Norway lemming. Rare observations of
Gray wolf,
European lynx,
and
Brown bear do occur.
A wolf shot in
Lardal in 2013 was the first wolf killed in the county in over 100 years.
Between 700 and 800 moose are annually hunted in Vestfold.
has one of the highest numbers of moose in Norway.
The
(Page 2).
Common European Viper is the only venomous snake found in Norway.[Larsen, Erlend (2012). På tur i Vestfold: Del 2. E-forlag. Page 10. .]
Vestfold has a rich avifauna: over 130 bird species have been observed in Svelvik,
Wildlife refuge
Saltstein is part of a protected habitat for birds.
From 2014
surfing was permitted off Saltstein.
Besides being an UNESCO Global Geopark, Mølen in Larvik is a habitat for a variety of rare bird species.[Nord, Einar and Gunnar Christie Wasberg (1999). Magiske Mølen. Larvik og omegns turistforening. Page 85. ISBN 8299524903.]
Wildlife preserves include Melsom- and Hemskilen Wildlife Preserves. Hemskilen Wildlife Preserve lies on the Larvik-Sandefjord border and is an important habitat for shorebirds, geese, and Passerines.
In popular culture
Although not filmed in Vestfold, the City of Tønsberg appears in the films
Thor (2011) and also in
(2011), and in
Some films shot in Vestfold include:
-
Norway (2018), movie based on the 2011 Norway attacks, filmed in Tønsberg and Nøtterøy.
-
Olsenbanden tar gull (1972), filmed in Stavern (Larvik) and Sande in Vestfold.
-
Baadshah (1999), Tønsberg
-
Christmas Blood ("Juleblod") (2017), Tønsberg and Sandefjord.
-
Wisting (2018– ), Larvik and Sandefjord.
-
Nonni and Manni (1988–89), Horten.
-
Head Above Water (1993), filmed at East Island in Sandefjord.
[Davidsen, Roger (2008). Et sted i Sandefjord: lokalhistorisk stedsnavnsleksikon. Sandar historielag. Page 74. ISBN 9788299456753.]
-
Deadline Torp (2005), movie based on the 1994 Torp hostage crisis, filmed in Sandefjord and Larvik.
-
Valfångare (1939), Sandefjord.
-
Den starkaste (1929), Sandefjord.
==Gallery==
