Sæbøtunet

When you come into the well-tended farm steading at Sæbø just above Etne centre, you get the impression of a Sunnhordland farm from well before the time of the tractor; from the time of the horse and the scythe. The hamlet at Sæbø, one of the farms neighbouring to Gjerde, was taken over by Sunnhordland Folk Museum in 1938.

Støle church

The stone church at Støle may have been built around 1160 probably as a private chapel for the mighty Stødle clan. It is likely that it was Erling Skakke, the king’s representative and father of king Magnus Erlingsson, who built the church.

Skånevik- the trading post

There are only two buildings left of the old trading and guesthouse settlement in Skånevik. They are in the centre, close to the main road passing through the settlement. The other buildings that belonged to the place, the lodging house (“Holteriet”), the bakery, the courthouse, the boathouse and the sea house with the store, were pulled down in the last century.

Kyrping

The trading post down by the fjord at Kyrping does not belong to the oldest group of trading posts from the 1600s and 1700s. It was only after the liberalisation of the trading legislation that trade was established here.

Halsnøy Monastery

Halsnøy Monastery is situated in the midst of the lush fjord country in Sunnhordland, on one of the old spits, or “necks”, that has given name to the island. Gently sloping fields lead down to the sea on both sides, in the south towards the Kloster Fjord, to the north towards the sheltered Klostervågen.

Rød

In 1969 Sigurd and Margreta Dønhaug donated a collection of around 170 historical cultural objects to Kvinnherad municipality. They wanted their gift to become the start of a farm collection in Uskedalen. And that is what happened.

Kvinnherad Church

The stately Kvinnherad Church with its characteristic profile set out against the mighty Malmangernuten in the background, gives you a rare feeling of being present in a historic landscape as you come around Nes and face the well-kept houses at the Skåla farm. The church at Skåla is one of four “fjordungskirker” (one of four main district churches) and this farm was the centre of this coastal administration district.

Hopland

The farmhouses at holding No. 15 at Hopland are built together to form a long, continuous building, with dwelling house, hayshed and cowshed built in one row. There have been many such joined structures in the coastal communities, but today there are few remaining. If we travel to the other side of the North Sea, to the Faeroes, Shetland and the Orkney Islands, we find corresponding features in the older building traditions. We find ourselves in a large North Atlantic cultural area.

Kjelstraumen

If you take the sea route north you have several options. The various routes have been dealt with in history, and through the Middle Ages the traffic increased as well as the trading with Nordland in fish and herring, feather and down. One of the central routes passes through Kjelstraumen, in the sound between Ulvøy and Bakkøy. This has been a place for a guesthouse since 1610, with Royal Letter of Privilege, part of the large network of trading post and guesthouse locations along the coast.

The Halsnøy Boat