Berkinge ironworks

Gerard de Besche's ironworks

Berkinge ironworks was established in 1646 by Gerard de Besche, one of the most influential men in the early history of the Swedish iron industry. De Besche, who also owned Forsmark ironworks, had a hammer mill and blast furnace erected at Berkinge, where water power and forest resources were available. The ironworks was used for the production of pig iron and bar iron using the Walloon forging method – the technique that Walloon immigrants had brought with them from present-day Belgium and that gave Swedish iron its high reputation on the European market.

The blast furnace at Berkinge was in operation right up until 1884, which testifies to a facility that endured the changing conditions of the times for more than two centuries. The iron produced here contributed to Roslagen's role as one of Sweden's most important industrial landscapes during the 1600s and 1700s.

Preserved landscape

Today, visitors to Berkinge can experience the historical remains in a picturesque natural and ironworks setting. The well-preserved manor building from the 1750s gives a picture of how the ironworks' owners and managers lived. Around the manor lie the remains of slag-stone buildings, traces of the industrial life that went on here for generations. A prominent remnant is the ruin of the old charcoal house – a tangible testimony to the enormous amount of charcoal that iron production required.

The mill pond, which originally supplied the hammer mill and blast furnace with water power, has been restored and today forms a natural focal point in the landscape. The place offers a calm and peaceful setting along the water, where history lies close beneath the surface in every slag-stone block and timbered wall.

Berkinge is located in the forest country of Norrtälje municipality, a little inland from the Uppland coast. The combined natural and ironworks setting makes the place an excursion destination for those seeking history, tranquillity and a piece of Roslagen's industrial roots.