Bukken

In Christian IV’s diary from Norgesreisa (trip to Norway) in 1599, we find the reference or anecdote that is the origin of the name Bukken. A Dutch full-rigged ship once passed the mountain outcrops on the island with the guesthouse so close that a ram grazing there jumped down on a yardarm (rånokk), thus the name “Buch van Raa!”

Dale

Glesvær- Trading post

Glesvær is one of the oldest trading posts on the West Norwegian coast. In the 1700s and 1800s this was the most important fishing centre on Sotra. The first certain mention of the trading station Glesvær is in 1664. At that time it was the Bergen merchant Hendrich Wessel who owned the place and was in the possession of a trading privilege. Abraham Wessel, who took over in 1688 also obtained Royal Privilege for “Kiøbmandskab med Bønderne alleene at drive” (the only one to be allowed to carry on trade with the farmers).

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.

Kvalvågen

Nottveit

In one of the frame-built haysheds at Nottveit, at holding No. 3, we discover that several of the staves have a medieval look, with large dimensions and carefully rounded edges. According to tradition, it was the farms Nottveit and Mostraumen that supplied the timber for the stave church at Mo, and it is not unlikely that these farms received the old timber in return when the new church was erected there in 1593.

Skipshelleren

For vel 7000 år sidan var Straume ein av dei beste – om ikkje den beste – veideplassen i Hordaland. Steinalderfolket som busette seg ved Skipshelleren, skjøna truleg ikkje kor heldige dei var. Mellom dei opptil 2 meter tjukke dyngjene med stein og bein som arkeologar grov fram i 1931–32, fann dei reiskapar og avfall frå fangst og matstell. Frå dette materialet har arkeologane stava seg fram til livet ved straumen.

Tyssøy

B.E.Bendixen, who has written about “The Churches in Søndre Bergenhus Amt”, believed even around 1900 that there was evidence at Tyssøy of the church or the chapel of the Holy Ludvig (Louis). Two large stone blocks had lain in the western wall of the church’s nave, and this wall showed a length of 16 meters in the terrain.