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Nøstetangen's neighbors: Haugsund, Hoen and Prestegården Haugsund Haugsund was not the largest of the settlements on Eiker, but it was in the process of establishing itself as a center for the local administration. It was where the town council meetings were held and where the sheriff lived. Sundstedet was an important hub, with a railway station and inns. The population consisted of timber floaters, char fishermen and salmon fishermen, but also some craftsmen and workers who were connected to the farms on Hoen and Vendelborg. It was a rapidly growing settlement. The Hoen farms The farms Øvre Hoen and Nedre Hoen had considerable dirt roads, but primarily these farms were among the most valuable in the village because of their other "glories". The owner of Øvre Hoen from 1751 was Jens Hofgaard, a well-known lumber merchant and proprietor and the man who commissioned the Hoenspokalen. The mill and sawmill operations in Hoenselva were significantly expanded during his time. Nedre Hoen belonged to the Winther family. They owned a sawmill and mill at Hellefossen, but the greatest value was the rich salmon fishing below the farm. Jens Hofgaard at Hoen - a proprietor and his use Situations Cart over Hoen 1783/84 - who was Jens Irgens? The Winther family on the Hoen farms The Hoen farms in 1765 Eker rectory The parish priest was the most important civil servant in the local community. People had regular contact with him through church services and other church activities, and the churchyard was an important gathering place, where public announcements were read and where news was spread by word of mouth. In addition, the parish priest, together with the chaplain, bells and other assistants, was responsible for important tasks such as school and poor relief. The church and rectory thus became an important center. The Church and the parish priests Schools and poor relief

The Silverworks mines at Eiker Ever since Kongsberg Sølvverk and Kongsberg were founded in 1624, there has been a close connection between Bergstaden and the neighboring village of Eiker – among other things, the very first silver finds were smelted in Kongens smelhytte in Vestfossen. In the latter half of the 18th century, the Sølvverk employed 400 people, and it had several mines and shards in Eiker – including the “Christianus VI and Dronning Sophie Magdalena mine” in Skarraenga outside Vestfossen, the Kjennerudvannsgruvene in Lurdalen and the Schwabegruva on Grasåsen. The most significant activity, however, was that which was started around 1770 in the outlying areas under the farms Skarra and Kolberg, right on the border with Svene parish in Numedal. This became known as the "Schara Ertzdyb Grube" or simply "Skarragruvene". At this time, the Silver Works started up in several areas that were quite far from the main fields in Saggrenda. This was because the operation of these mines was becoming less profitable, and therefore richer deposits were sought. Optimism was great, and at the Skarra mines, more than 20 sharp points were taken up, two horizontal adits were driven in, totaling around 700 meters in length, and a crushing plant was built, which was powered by hydroelectric power from Dørja. The operation provided work for 50-60 people - at most, around 100 miners were active there. In the long run, the results did not meet expectations, and in 1898 the Skarra mines were closed down after 30 years of operation. This was part of the winding up of Kongsberg Sølvverk, where all operations ceased in 1805. It was not until ten years later that mining operations resumed, but operations were never as extensive as they had been at the end of the 18th century.

Magazine drive on "Sölvveien" The transportation of goods between Bragernes and Kongsberg is often called "warehouse transportation". In reality, this transportation took place both on land and by water. The actual transportation was carried out by "reeders" in rowboats and drivers with horses and carts. Along the river and the road there were transport stations, guesthouses and inns where both the transport workers and other travelers could quench their thirst and get food and shelter. This is where goods were probably also bought and sold to the local population, at a time when there were no country stores. All the traffic also provided work for craftsmen such as boat builders, blacksmiths, wheelwrights and shoemakers. In the latter half of the 18th century, the mining town of Kongsberg had around 8,000 inhabitants and was Norway’s second largest city – smaller than Bergen, but larger than Christiania. The local agriculture could not feed such a large population, and the miners and their families were completely dependent on a regular supply of grain and other foodstuffs. This gave great power to a small group of “suppliers”, who had the exclusive right to run this profitable business. Together with the top management at the Silver Works, they constituted the upper class in Kongsberg. The grain and other imported goods destined for Kongsberg came to Drammen - which actually consisted of two separate trading posts - Bragernes and Strømsø. The large warehouse of the silver works was located at Øvre Sund in Bragernes until 1786, when a new and larger warehouse was built on Strømsø. From here the goods were to be transported to the warehouse in Kongsberg - today known as "Magasinparken". This was the origin of the term "Magasinkjørsel", and the transport went through Eiker. Although a road had been built all the way to Bragernes as early as the 1620s, much of the traffic was carried out on the river, especially the transport of heavier goods. The "Røyertene" were a separate professional group, who rowed "big boats" up the river to Haugsund. Some goods were transferred to horses and carts at the Langebru transport station near Haug Church, but much was also transported by boat to Vestfossen and sometimes all the way to Rudstøa in Fiskum. However, the last leg through Kongsbergskogen had to be covered by horse and cart. This was by far one of the country's most important transport arteries. "The Silver Road" is a name that this road has been given in recent times. Originally, it was often called "The King's Road", but also "The Post Road", since there was a fixed postal route here with important correspondence between the management of the Silver Works and the central administration in Copenhagen. Today, several new and larger roads have been built between Drammen and Kongsberg, but at the end of the 18th century, the route was largely the same as when the road was built in the 1620s. Maintenance and improvements were carried out, however. One of the most important was the construction of stone arch bridges, which probably replaced older wooden bridges. The largest and most important was Smedbrua, which was built in 1767 by stonemasons from the Silver Works, where the road crosses the Fiskumelva River. Smaller bridges of the same type were built at Skogen and at Brekke on Nedre Eiker. Today, these bridges are protected as cultural monuments.

Ironworks - Hassel and Eidsfos Hasselverket Da glassverket på Nøstetangen startet opp i 1741. var Hasselverket alt en veletablert bedrift, mer enn hundre år gammelt og et anerkjent jernverk. Det produserte både smijern, som smedene brukte som råstoff til sine produkter, og mange typer støpejernsprodukter. Mest kjent – både i samtid og ettertid – var nok Hassel for sine «jernkakkelovner», med jernplater som var små kunstverk. De ble støpt i treformer med utskjæringer som var laget av noen av de fremste treskjærerne i landet. Rokokkoperioden på siste halvdel av 1700-tallet regnes som en storhetstid for denne ovnskunsten, og rokokko-ovnene fra Hassel er en interessant parallell til glasskunsten fra Nøstetangen i samme periode. Motivene var hentet fra bibelhistorien, men også fra gresk og romersk mytologi. Landets konger ble også hyllet, og noen av de aller rikeste borgerne kunne også spesialbestille ovner med sitt eget monogram. Eiere i denne perioden var familien Neumann, slektninger av Cappelen på Fossesholm og medlemmer av det lokale handelspatrisiatet. Jacob Hansen Neumann var eier fra 1746 til han døde i 1777. Deretter sto enken hans, Verkets hovedgruver lå i Hasselåsen på Modum, men det hadde også gruver andre steder på Eiker og ikke minst ved Arendal, der det ble utvunnet jernmalm av en helt spesiell kvalitet, som ble fraktet sjøveien til Eiker. Selve verket med den store masovnen lå ved Daler på Eiker og ble drevet med vannkraft fra Bingselva. Sammen med sagbrukene, som lå litt lenger ned i elva, la det grunnlaget for tettstedet Skotselv Eidsfos Ironworks Eidsfos ironworks was started in 1697 by Caspar Herman von Hausmann – grandfather of Caspar Herman von Storm, who played such a central role at the Nøstetangen glassworks. The ironworks was located in Hof parish in Jarlsberg county, but it was still connected to Eiker in several ways. Many of the works' mines were located in the area between Drammensdalen and Eikeren – most at Konnerud, but also partly at Eiker. The farmers at Eiker were probably involved in ore hauling for the works and in deliveries of coal and wood. Together with Kongsberg Sølvverk and Hassel ironworks, Eidsfos was a competitor for Nøstetangen in the fight for forest resources. Much of the transport to and from Eidsfos also went through Eiker. Ore and other goods for the plant were rowed up the Drammenselva and Vestfosselva rivers to Vestfossen and onward by sailing yacht across Fiskumvannet and Eikeren. Together with the timber rafting and the transport of goods for the Silver Plant, the transport to Hassel and Eidsfos made the waterway at Eiker an important transport artery. It helped to employ a growing population of farmhands and workers.

Fossesholm Manor Written by Bent Ek In the mid-18th century, the estate economy at Eiker was in complete disarray. The large Sems estate had been divided up after Lieutenant Colonel Richelieu went bankrupt in 1719, and in 1743 the main farm itself was bought by the farmer's widow Olaug Pedersdatter on the neighboring farm Berg and divided into two farms. Skjelbred at Fiskum was divided up after the death of the mining councillor Niels Mechlenbourg in 1713, and the division of the Ulleland estate at Skotselv began when the county magistrate Vilhelm de Tonsberg died in 1731. The exception to this development was the manor house Fossesholm at Vestfossen. This estate was also divided, in the sense that it was divided between a number of owners belonging to the same family. However, one of these owners – Gabriel von Cappelen – pursued a determined acquisition of farm shares, and in 1762/63 his son – Jørgen von Cappelen – was able to buy out the last co-owners, so that he became the sole owner. While the other estates on Eiker had disintegrated, Fossesholm still had a significant land and forest estate, with underlying farms between Vestfossen and Fiskumvannet and stretches of forest on both sides of the Eikeren. One half of the settlement of Vestfossen, with five large sawmills, also belonged to the estate. The Cappelen family had been involved in the timber trade for several generations, based in Bragernes, but Jørgen had become a wealthy man as a supplier to Kongsberg Sølvverk. In 1763, he was 58 years old, and he retired to the old manor house at Eiker with his wife, Magdalena Darjes. There they began a large-scale building project, which resulted in the manor house that we largely find on Fossesholm today. Here, the refined lifestyle of the merchant patriciate continued for another couple of generations – until it ended with a forced auction in 1822.

The absolute monarchs and their officials The Danish-Norwegian monarchy was governed from Copenhagen, and the civil servants were the king's representatives in the local community. The highest civil servant was the county magistrate of the fairly recently established Buskerud county. It was divided into bailiffs, and Eiker was subordinate to the Buskerud county bailiff, with a bailiff residing in Lier. Eiker, Modum and Sigdal constituted a separate magistrate's office, where the magistrate during this period lived in Modum. The state's only local representative in Eiker, besides the parish priest, was thus the sheriff, who lived in Hokksund. The autocratic kings bailiff, magistrate and sheriff County officials and bailiffs Magistrates and judiciary The sheriffs at Eiker

The community above Hellefossen The exhibition "Society under Hellefossen" was presented in the new exhibition areas of the Nøstetangen Center in the summer of 2023. Here, a fantastic exhibition and a historical journey about life on and along the river under Hellefossen were presented. 3D presentation from the 2023 exhibition Hilmar Olsen Old Hokksund Laundry in Drammenselva

Here are the QR codes Eiker history club Currently, the site is used to experiment with how to provide access to material in Sharepoint. Uc c - Interviewer

Haugsund 1765 In the tax census from 1765, 265 people were recorded as living in Hougssund. It only included people over the age of 12, so with children there were probably between 300 and 400 people living in the settlement. Most were married couples with or without children, and sometimes with elderly parents or servants, but we also find widows, widowers and a few unmarried people. Almost no one is listed by occupation - the exception was Sheriff Stephanus Bagge and Auctionsdirecteur Holtzrod - the two may have constituted the local small "middle class". In the church records, occupation is sometimes listed, and here we see that the population of Hokksund consisted of river workers, fishermen and sawmill workers, but also of innkeepers and craftsmen of various kinds. The settlement had grown up around the ferry station, where travelers along the King's Road might need food, drink and perhaps accommodation. Blacksmiths who could shoe a horse, carpenters and wheelwrights who could repair a carriage and shoemakers who could repair worn-out shoes also settled here. The river was also an important workplace - salmon fishing and timber rafting took place here, and rowers (rowers) transported goods of all kinds by boat. Others were day laborers in agriculture and forestry, and many probably also had their own plot of land where they could keep livestock and grow a little grain.

Rafting in the Drammen River Timber rafting had been taking place in the river since the High Middle Ages, and more and more of the timber had to be transported from the upper parts of the district, where there were still large forests. This applied to both sawn timber and beams that were cut with an axe. The authorities adopted regulations for the rafting and provisions on how large quantities could be cut and sawn on the various saws, but the rafting itself was organized by the lumber merchants in cooperation with each other, but where the largest sawmill owners had the decisive say. The most important timber hinge on Eiker was at Kverk below Skotselv, where the timber was held back and released in quantities no larger than it was possible to sort them when they arrived at the mills. The largest of these sorting hinges was the "Great Hinge" at Nøstetangen, where the timber going to the sawmills in Vestfossen was stopped. Another important hinge was Stenberg, where the beam timber was sorted. There were permanent crews at these hinges, while there was only seasonal work at the smaller hinges and at the quarrying in the tributaries. From Nøstetangen, the timber was pulled up the Vestfosselva river by horses walking along the riverbank. This work was carried out by "timber carriers". In addition, the sawmills in Vestfossen received a good deal of timber from the area around Eikeren. These logs were tied together in rafts and transported across the lake with sails. After the logs had been turned into planks and boards at the sawmills, they were chained together in large "mushrooms", often with several thousand boards, and floated down to the board plots at Bragernes. This plank floating was carried out by special workers called "nersetters".

Eikerminne is now available at the National Library Spokes Archive The National Archives - Genealogy Research Terra Buskerud-Historieboka

Schools and poor relief The pietist King Christian VI introduced confirmation in Norway, and from 1739, community schools were established throughout the country with religious instruction and simple reading instruction. It was common to have community schools, where teaching took place around the farms and was limited to a few weeks a year. However, Vestfossen got a permanent community school as early as 1747, and at the Hassel ironworks in Skotselv a vocational school was established in 1757. A permanent school probably also came to Haugsund (Hokksund) during the 18th century, but the rest of Eiker still had a community school. The parish priests were responsible for the school system, and the main emphasis was placed on religious education. In public documents we see that it was still common for most people to write their name "with a pen" - they could not spell their own name. Poor people who were unable to earn a living, usually because they were old or disabled, were paid "legd". This was part of the tax system and meant that a group of farms were jointly responsible for providing food and shelter for a poor person. During the 18th century, several decrees on the poor were passed, in 1741, 1742, 1755, 1789 and 1790. Poor committees were introduced, led by the parish priest and the sheriff, who also included the local farmers and two men appointed by the county governor. But during this period, the population also grew, and when the harvest failed, there was a famine: "People eat everything they could get their hands on: Bark bread, roots, moss porridge, etc. and they drank water for it month after month. Pine bark, roots from the ground, aspen and silje leaves were collected, dried and ground into flour. Bread was baked from this, which was fried on flat iron roofs." A rich village like Eiker also attracted many poor beggars. In 1741, the king decided that this should be prohibited and that beggars should be put to forced labor at the "Tugthuset" in Christiania. It was not until the very end of the 18th century that priests came who were concerned with improving schools and the poor: Hans Strøm, who became parish priest in 1779, and Frederik Schmidt, who succeeded Strøm in 1797.