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The Church and the Parish Priests Since the Reformation in 1537, the church in Denmark-Norway had been part of the state, with the King as head, and the priests were royal officials. The church service and the church acts – baptisms, weddings and funerals – were an important part of people’s daily lives. But during the 18th century, the church also gained an expanded social mission, with the introduction of confirmation in 1736 and a community school three years later. It also played an important role in the development of a poor system, and royal laws and decrees were announced on the church grounds after the services. Thus, the parish priest became a cornerstone of the absolute monarchy’s civil service. The main church and rectory at Eiker were geographically centrally located, close to the sound site of Haugsund. There were several homesteads here, and the "Egerske Company" had a practice area at the church. In 1741, the Nøstetangen glassworks was also built on the rectory grounds. Between 1741 and 1776 there were four parish priests at Eiker. Peder Anchersen had held the office since 1720, and previously he had been ship's chaplain for Peter Wessel Tordenskjold. He is described as He was parish priest until 1749, when he was succeeded by Christian Grave He was a poet and antique collector, very interested in history and was appointed Peder Jespersen NyropLorentz Schnitler The tombstones of Nyrop and Schnitler can still be seen in the cemetery at Haug Church, where they are among the oldest tombstones.

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.

The Plank nobility In the 16th and 17th centuries, the lumber trade and sawmill operations were dominated by lords, county governors and other central officials - both nobles and commoners - who operated on behalf of the King, but who also had private interests in this profitable trade. By the 18th century, the Crown had withdrawn from this industry entirely, and the role of the civil servants had been taken over by merchants, who were largely bourgeois on Bragernes or Strømsø. This was the new upper class, known as the "merchant patriciate" or "plankeadel". In the mid-18th century, the sawmill industry was completely dominated by a handful of families, who had largely intermarried with each other – Cudrio, Smith, Stranger, Wiel, Arbo, Cappelen and Hofgaard. The latter two had particular connections to Eiker – Cappelen as owner of Fossesholmgodset and Hofgaard as owner of the sawmills at Hoen and in Mjøndalen. But the others also owned and leased sawmills both in Eiker and in other villages. Several of them were also involved in the timber trade, but there were also several smaller players involved. With a luxurious lifestyle and high luxury consumption, this upper class also led the way in cultural developments, from clothing fashions to ornamental objects made of silver and glass or exotic consumer goods such as tobacco, sugar, coffee, tea, wine and spirits. These became consumer goods that the wider population also tried to acquire to the best of their ability – and which led parish priest Hans Strøm to chastise the Eikværingen for their excessive penchant for luxury in his "Physical-Oeconomistic Description of Eger Præstegield".

the Norwegian crofter system Husmannsvesenet var et fenomen som fantes over hele Norge, i forskjellige varianter. Eiker og de andre flatbygdene på Østlandet var nok det området der husmannsvesenet fikk aller størst utbredelse, og innenfor Eikers grenser finner vi mange varianter – det var husmenn med jord og jordløse strandsittere, bygselshusmenn og arbeidshusmenn. Siste halvdel av 1600-tallet og første halvdel av 1700-tallet var en periode med store omveltninger i bondesamfunnet på Eiker. Krongodset og adelsgodsene gikk i oppløsning, mange bønder ble selveiere, men også rike trelasthandlere fra byene kjøpte seg gård og grunn på Eiker. Folketallet økte, og mange nye husmannsplasser ble ryddet. Forarbeidet til ny matrikkel i 1723 er vel den første kilden som gir en samlet oversikt over husmenn på Eiker. Den viser at husmannsvesenet på dette tidspunktet var en institusjon som var veletablert i alle deler av bygda. Hele 116 av gårdene på Eiker hadde husmenn på dette tidspunktet. De aller fleste bare en eller to husmenn, men gårder som Nedre Hoen, Vestre Lo og Skjelbred hadde hele seks stykker, Stenshorne hadde hele ni husmenn, under Fossesholm er det oppgitt 13 og under Haug prestegård 14 husmenn. På så å si alle disse plassene ble det dyrket havre, som regel mellom en halv og en hel tønne. Det betyr at dette var husmenn med jord, mens husmenn uten jord ikke er tatt med – rimelig nok, siden dette var en skattematrikkel og det var jorda en betrakte skatt for. Dersom en tar med alle husmennene som ikke hadde jord, ville nok antallet vært betydelig større enn de 246 husmannsplassene som er oppgitt i 1723. Det neste årstallet vi finner en samlet oversikt over husmenn på Eiker, er 1765, da det ble tatt opp et manntall i forbindelse med innkreving av en ekstraskatt. Her var alle personer over 15 år med, og 252 av dem er ført opp som husmenn. Det er altså bare ubetydelig flere enn i 1723. Men skatten i 1765 var en såkalt koppskatt, slik at også husmenn som ikke hadde jord ble tatt med. Disse blir ikke kalt husmenn i manntallet, men føres i samme skatteklasse som husmennene. av dem var det hele 413 stykker. Ut ifra dette kan vi slutte at nærmere 20% av Eikers befolkningen på midten av 1700-tallet var husmenn.Men mer interessant enn antallet er det kanskje å se nærmere på hva slags husmenn en hadde på Eiker. Dessverre sier ikke manntallet i 1765 stort sett ingen ting om hva folk arbeidet med. Unntakene er åtte hammersmeder ved Hassel jernverk og fjorten stykker på Nøstetangen som «arbeider ved Fabriquen». Men ut ifra bosted er det også mulig å si en hel del om hva husmennene på Eiker livnærte seg av., Ikke overraskende finner vi flest husmenn der det var sagbruk og annen industri. Det var i Vestfossen og Skotselv, langs Hoenselva og i Mjøndalen. Det er vel neppe noen tvil om at mange av disse var sagbruksarbeidere. Under gårder som Solberg og Krokstad var det store møllebruk, og her finner vi også en konsentrasjon av husmenn. Det samme gjelder sundstedet ved Haug – både under Prestegården og på østsiden av Drammenselva under gårdene Lerberg og Hobbelstad. Husmennene her kan ha vært knyttet til tømmerfløting og laksefiske, men også det at Haugsund var et viktig knutepunkt for samferdselen hadde nok sin betydning. Blant husmennene her finner vi nok både vertshusholdere, skysskarer og håndverkere. Likevel er det bare en nokså beskjeden andel av husmennene på 1700-tallet som bodde på slike tettsteder. Under alle de større gårdene i bygda var det vanlig med både fire og fem husmannsplasser eller enda flere. Det gjaldt både gårder sentralt i bygda og de som lå i utkanten. Etableringen av slike husmannsplasser må ha sammenheng med behovet for arbeidskraft på gården, spesielt i onnene. Gårdbrukerne kunne sikre seg arbeidshjelp ved å leie ut jord og ta betaling i form av pliktarbeid. Uten å ha studert husmaannskontraktene nærmere, må en kunne anta at husmennene på slike gårder var såkalte «arbeidshusmenn», mens de som hadde fast arbeid på sager eller i annen industri var «bygselshusmenn», det vil si at de betalte for leie av plassen med penger istedenfor pliktarbeid. På en del steder kan det nok ha vært en kombinasjon – det gjelder for eksempel på gårder som Fossesholm, Ulleland og Hoen, som både hadde en betydelig jordvei og samtidig en stor sagbruksvirksomhet. Mange husmenn var nok også tømmerfløtere. Dem finner vi sikkert langs hele Drammenselva, men det var spesielt mange plasser i nærheten av de store tømmerhengslene ved Kverk og Stenberg. En annen næringsvei som la grunnlag for rydding av husmannsplasser, var bergverksdriften. Når det var så vidt mange husmenn under gårder som Berg og Stenshorne, har nok det sammenheng med at det var drift både i Bergsgruvene og Krambudalsgruvene på 1760-tallet.

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

County magistrate, bailiff, magistrate and sheriff Throughout most of the 17th century, Eiker was a separate fief, but with its own lord and bailiff. From 1679, however, it was part of the newly established Buskerud county, and in 1708 Sigdal, Modum, Eiker, Lier, Røyken and Hurum were merged into one bailiff's office. Both the county governor and bailiff resided in or near Drammen, and they often sent deputies to the local assemblies. They were high-ranking officials, with whom the common people of Eiker only rarely came into contact. During the years that the Nøstetangen glassworks was in operation, Buskerud had only two county governors - Just Must, who held office from 1719 to 1760, and Andreas Fjeldsted, who was county governor from 1760 to 1788. The county governor's immediate subordinate was the bailiff, who was both a public prosecutor and responsible for collecting taxes and fees. Throughout most of this period - from 1749 to 1765 - Eggert Madsen Fischer was bailiff in the lower part of Buskerud. The bailiff was divided into two magistrates' offices, and the northernmost half includes Eiker, Modum and Sigdal. The magistrate did not live in Eiker either in the latter half of the 18th century. Both Giert Falch, who was magistrate from 1730 to 1753, and his successor Otto Laurentii Darjes, who held the office until 1780, both resided on the Mælum farm in Modum. However, when there was a court session at Eiker, they usually appeared there, unless they had a valid reason to do so. Such sessions were held three times a year, but "Extra-court sessions" could also be scheduled outside of this. The court sessions were held in Haugsund, but their own courtroom did not get its own location until around 1840. In the 18th century, the court was held in privately owned houses - Lieutenant Winther's house and later Madame Braun's house are constantly mentioned as "Eger's arranged courtroom". Alongside the parish priest, the sheriff was the public official who was present in the local community on a daily basis. Ever since the Middle Ages, the "farmer sheriff" had been the extended arm of the sheriff and bailiff at the local level – but at the same time the common people's spokesman towards the authorities. In the 18th century, the sheriff probably still had some of this role, but formally he was the county governor's subordinate, but responsible for maintaining law and order, collecting fines and a number of other tasks. The sheriff was no longer one of the village's large farmers, but an immigrant with roots in the bourgeoisie. In 1741, the same year that the glassworks at Nøstetangen were built, Eiker got a new sheriff - Peder Eliasen Søboholm. However, he died the following year. Then Søren Hiermind was sheriff from 1743 to 1751, Ole Høyland (hardly a relative of the famous master thief of the same name) from to 1761 and Stephanus Bagge until 1771. None of these four were born in Eiker, but all lived in Haugsund and were homeowners there. Between 1769 and 1775, Anders Høyland is also mentioned as sheriff at Eiker. He was a native of Eikværing and the son of the previous sheriff, Ole Høyland.

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 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

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.

Setre og boplasser Rogndalsbråtan Arne Thorkildsens store registrering av boplasser, som ble gjennomført på 1980-tallet, har blitt fulgt opp av andre frivillige og koordinert av Eiker Arkiv. En oversikt er lagt ut på lokalhistoriewiki og oppdateres etter hvert som nye opplysninger kommer inn: Boplasser på Eiker .