Bernshammar, Manor house in Skinnskatteberg Municipality, Sweden
Bernshammar is a former ironworks and manor estate in Heds parish, 8 km north of Kolsva. The two-storey main building is a timber structure under a mansard roof, rendered and built 1787–1790, with two side wings added in 1803. The estate also holds an English park with a temple, an orangery from 1863 and a falu-red timber workers' dwelling with lock-list panelling from the mid-19th century.
A hammer forge, Herr Lars Hammare, was set up at Hedströmmen as early as 1508 by the then vicar of Köping; by the mid-16th century it had moved downstream to today's Bernshammar, whose name derives from Berendt von Hamburg. A new hammer followed in 1622, and owners included the Schönström and Hising families. In 1849 the works had four hearths producing 2600 skeppund of bar iron; it closed in 1870.
The name Bernshammar derives from the German Berendt von Hamburg, originally written "Berendts hammar". The estate has belonged to the Lorichs family since 1784, apart from a break of over ten years, and was bought in 1929 by financier Harald Mårtens before the manor area returned to the family in 1941.
Bernshammar lies in Heds parish, about 8 km north of Kolsva; the estate is private, owned by the Lorichs family, so visits focus on the exterior, the English park with its temple and the 1863 orangery. The main building, wings and red timber workers' cottage are best seen on foot from the grounds.
About 500 metres south of Bernshammar lies Jönsarbo, a second ironworks site in Heds parish. The two works shared the waters of Hedströmmen, and Jönsarbo is often left out of accounts of the estate.
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