Engelsberg Ironworks

Engelsberg Ironworks
UNESCO World Heritage Site
Location	Ängelsberg, Fagersta Municipality, Sweden
Criteria	Cultural: (iv)
Reference	556rev
Inscription	1993 (17th Session)
Area	9.596 ha (23.71 acres)
Coordinates	59°58′00″N 16°00′30″E / 59.96667°N 16.00833°E
	Location of Engelsberg Ironworks in Sweden

Engelsberg Ironworks (Swedish: Engelsbergs bruk) is an ironworks in Ängelsberg, a village in Fagersta Municipality in Västmanland County, 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.