UNESCO World Heritage Site in Fagersta Municipality, Sweden
Engelsberg Ironworks (Swedish: Engelsbergs bruk) is an ironworks in Ängelsberg, a village in Fagersta Municipality in Västmanland, Sweden. It was built in 1681 by Per Larsson Gyllenhöök (1645-1706) and developed into one of the world's most modern ironworks in the period 1700–1800. It is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1993.
Name
Engelsberg Ironworks is named after Englika. Englika, who was born in Germany, began producing iron in Engelsberg in the 14th century.[1]
History
The history of iron production in the region dates back to at least 13th century. The local peasants both mined the ore and produced the iron using primitive furnaces.[2]
In the end of the 16th century more modern production methods were introduced in Engelsberg and production volumes increased substantially in the following decades.[2]
The mill, which historically belonged to the Västervåla parish and Norberg, was built in 1681[3] by the county sheriff Per Larsson Höök (1645–1706). By then, ironworking had already been carried out on the site for a long time by miners.[4]
Description
The preserved buildings include a manor house, the inspector's house and the smelting house with a blast furnace.[2]
UNESCO World Heritage Site
Engelsberg Ironworks is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It was added to the list in 1993.[5] The UNESCO comments were:
Sweden's production of superior grades of iron made it a leader in this field in the 17th and 18th centuries. This site is the best-preserved and most complete example of this type of Swedish ironworks.
