Edsbro ironworks

A blast furnace for Skebo ironworks

Edsbro blast furnace was established in 1686 by the owners of Skebo ironworks as a separate smelting facility. The idea was practical: instead of transporting ore long distances to Skebo, the blast furnace was built close to the charcoal resources in Edsbro. The pig iron smelted here was then transported to Skebo ironworks for further refining into the sought-after bar iron, which in turn was exported – above all to England.

The ore came from the Dannemora mines, one of Europe's richest iron-ore fields during the 1700s and 1800s. The forest in Edsbro parish supplied charcoal in the enormous quantities that iron production required, and Lake Närdingen made it possible to transport raw materials and finished iron. The French-style blast furnace established here was a result of the Walloon technical expertise that had spread in Uppland since the mid-1600s.

Ironworks community with a clear hierarchy

Around the blast furnace, a small ironworks community grew up with the social order typical of the iron industry of the time. The inspector lived more apart, while the workers' timbered and red-painted dwellings lay along an ironworks street near the workplace. A carpentry workshop, smithy and warehouse complemented the facility. The lake and river were regulated with dams to ensure the water power that drove the blowing machines and transported goods.

At the end of the 1800s, the blast furnace was modernised with a steam engine and a railway was built to the facility. Production continued into the early 1900s but was shut down after the First World War in 1919.

A unique remnant in Stockholm County's history

The present blast furnace, built entirely of stone, is from the 1800s and is the only preserved one of its kind in Stockholm County. The facility is classified as an industrial monument of national interest. On the site there are also walls from a roasting furnace, traces of dam constructions, a charcoal house, a harbour facility with warehouse buildings, a small smithy, a manager's residence and an office building – as well as the ironworks street with workers' dwellings that give the whole setting a coherent character.

Right next to the ironworks lies Edsbro Church from the 1200s, with its rich lime paintings from 1625 with biblical motifs. The combination of medieval church art and industrial cultural heritage makes Edsbro one of the most multi-layered destinations in northern Roslagen.