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Curator Jan Lundell, Hälsingland Museum
Photographs from the Hälsingland Museum photo library
The Origin of the Hälsingland Farmhouses
The Hälsingland farmhouse, with all its buildings and land, rests on four
foundations: the land, the animals, the people and the tools. The farm
buildings are the most visible expression of this; the lives and work
of the people the thing holding it all together. Each building on a Hälsingland
farm has a fixed function which is associated with the use of the land
and the work which was done there. The barn and the meadow, the threshing
barn and the field, the summer farm and the forest, the boathouse and
the sea, and soldier's croft and its surrounding land. Some houses were
tools in themselves, for example the flaxworks.
A Hälsingland farm is a unit of production, and for it to function there had to be a balance between land and animals, people and tools, and buildings. If something is missing, the equilibrium is disturbed and the whole system falls apart.
The
origins of the grand Hälsingland farmhouses are to be found in food and
good living. One can of course speak of riches, the artistry of the timberman,
skilled craftsmanship and luxury, but it all comes down to food. The farm
household is the focus. We often speak of the "farmer" and his animals,
his farm and his land. But there was no farm or farmer who could cope
without help. The work of women and children was very important in production.
The Land
The people of the farm needed food, which was yielded by the cultivated
land and the animals. The basis of everything was thus the land, not just
the land which was part of the farm itself but also outlying land, summer
farms and boathouses, as well as land for hunting and waters for fishing.
The land of a Hälsingland farm consisted of three types: the cultivated
field closest to the farmhouse, the hayfields a bit farther away and the
grasslands farthest away of all. The most important land was however the
forest. It contained the grazing which was necessary for the animals to
be able to feed all year round: the better the forest, the greater the
number of animals.
The Animals
The number of horses, cows, goats and sheep depended on how much land
was available. The cows and goats were the most important animals and
were looked after by the women. These animals gave milk and meat as well
as fertiliser for better harvests. They were also a source of skins and
leather - products which were sold at great profit. The horses were looked
after by the men, and the proud Hälsingland horse was an early symbol
of the wealth and independence of the Hälsingland people. The horse
made profitable trading trips possible.
Fodder for the cattle was taken from land which would not yield food crops: marshes in the forest and damp river banks. The horses' fodder was taken from the hayfields. The horses' manure mostly ended up on the roads or in the forest and couldn't be used. What horse manure was available was used to feed cattle.
The People
As long as there was enough to feed the animals and the people, the
unit of production was in balance. But when people are living well, their
numbers increase. And an increased population means an increased need
of food, i.e. of land and animals. So you have to cultivate new ground
and obtain more animals. The land available for cultivation in Hälsingland
was limited, which meant that not all of those who wished to could live
as farmers. This was when craftsmanship began to develop. The crown accounts
of the 16th century indicate that the Hälsingland people were already
established as esteemed craftsmen and that they were busy tradesmen.
The
Tools
The Hälsingland people used the same agricultural tools as farmers
in the rest of Sweden. In Hälsingland however, special types were developed,
such as the Hälsingland plough and the gooseleg harrow, and some work
was mechanised. The development of tools was mainly associated with the
working of the hayfields.
The First Cultivation
The first farmers in Hälsingland settled and began to work the land
and keep animals around the beginning of the Iron Age in the central areas
of what are now the coastal parishes, and later, in the Viking era, in
the inland parishes. Barley was the most important crop from the start
and the same animals were kept then as now. Little is known about what
happened during the Middle Ages, but nothing indicates a slump at the
time of the agrarian crisis of the late Middle Ages. The province was
little - if at all - affected by the Black Death.
Continuity in the Middle Ages
Between the years 1550 and 1750, the number of farmers, the acreage
of cultivation, the harvests and the livestock remained at a more or less
constant level. There was little new cultivation. That the Hälsingland
people of the 16th century could maintain an unchanged level of land and
harvests might indicate that they had a solid, long-established system
of production and consumption. This system was partly dependent on agriculture
being in balance, and also on the interplay between the farmers, fishermen,
craftsmen and tradesmen. There is nothing to indicate an expansion of
cultivation or an increase in the number of farms prior to the 1550s.
There seems to have been unchecked steady growth from the Middle Ages
onward.
The population grew, but the "surplus" did not become farmers. They became tradesmen and craftsmen within each farm. Instead of starting new cultivation, they exchanged typical Hälsingland goods for grain. There was an equilibrium between farmers, fishermen, craftsmen and tradesmen and the resources which they consumed: it was a conscious adaptation to the people and land of the times.
Decline and Recovery
Great changes took place in the 17th century, due to wars and years
of bad harvests. The number of able-bodied men fell and agriculture stagnated.
After a few dreadful years around 1670, a recovery began which can be
viewed as the start of the agrarian revolution, bringing changes which
did not take place in the rest of Sweden until 150 years later. To begin
with, productivity increased through the introduction of scythes into
the harvest. New tools, mainly used in the hayfields, were brought into
use. The yield per acre was improved through the extension of the hayfields
and and this meant an expansion in flax cultivation. Treadmills and the
mechanical preparation of flax and hemp were introduced.
Flax cultivation was profitable. If one wished to increase the acreage of flax, then the land used for cereal crops and hay had to be increased since they were in proportion to each other. This led to greater yields of cereal crops and hay. The result: the farm could keep more animals, above all horses, but also produced an large amounts of cereal crops which had to be processed. It was in these conditions that mechanical threshers were developed in Hälsingland in the late 18th century.
In the 17th century, the state increased its powers and its control, limiting rural craftsmanship and trade. Flax cultivation and linen manufacture were however accepted as a rural industry, but labour was needed to produce large amounts of linen. This labour force was gathered from the landless people who had been on the increase since the 1680s, and who became a manpower pool which was used to spin and weave in busy times. This group probably took over the previous role of the craftsmen.
The wealth of the 16th century was re-achieved in the 18th. The division of farms increases and new cultivation becomes more common. The population continues to grow. New farms are built and the outlying lands become permanent pasture. What we see today has its origins in this era.
The Grand 19th Century, with Traditions from the Middle Ages
The farmhouses, outhouses, summer farms and land which mean so much
to us today originated in the 19th century, some near the end of the 18th
century. Their architecture, decoration and luxury follow the tastes of
the age, but building on a large scale had been going on for a long time
in the Hälsingland farms. The conditions were set in the Middle Ages.
Early on, a functioning system of cultivation was created which utilised
existing resources and adapted the people and the animals to the land.
Wealth meant an increasing population, but the number of farms did not
change. The sons and daughters who could not farm worked as craftsmen
and tradespeople within each farm. A lot of people on the farm meant big
buildings. Skills in craftsmanship, and income from trade, were invested
in big farmhouses.
The
magnificence of the Hälsingland farms has its origins in the work which
was carried out by the men and women of the farms in their outhouses and
on their land. What we see today is the legacy of their lives and work.