en 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.