Hesten / Tagholt

How to get there

Parking: Park at the parking lot connected to Sætra ski facilities.

Accessibility: Hard hike. Marked trails.

Duration: 2 – 3 hours.

Special conditions:

• Park at the parking place and show respect for private land.
• Show respect to animals along the trail.
• Don’t forget to close grinds behind you so that animals would not get away.
• Dogs have to be on leash.
• Leave nothing but footprints!

 

Culture and history

Ironworks at the Tagholt farm in Lund. Registrations were carried out in 1975, and in 1986 smaller excavations were carried out where a furnace was found for iron production. Two C-14 tests confirmed that the plant must have been in use between 440 BC. and 240 AD.

In 1996 a major survey done by Per Haavaldsen from the Archaeological Museum in Stavanger was conducted. They found remains of 21 safe ovens and 3 unsafe ovens on the fine sandy beach. The area is 27.5 meters long and approx. 8 meters wide. This “industrial plant” for iron production attracted great attention and is one of the largest and most outstanding of its kind in Norway. The 21 ovens on Tagholt indicate that during the centuries around Christ’s birth there has been a short-lived but intensive production based on bog ore.

Tagholtsanden is Lund’s most beautiful beach, albeit somewhat unavailable.

If you would like to find out more about the geology in the area, you can book a tour with Magma Geopark’s guides. You can also download Magma Geopark’s app and hear a local guide tell about the exciting geology on the way to the lighthouse. Information about the local birdlife can be found at the local team at the Norwegian Ornithological Society.