Konunga-Stollen Gruvgång

Konungastollen - Kings Tunnel

Useful Information

Location:	713 93 Nora. Between Kåfallstorp and Klacka-Lerberg. 10 km northwest of Nora. From Nora follow Esstorpsvägen through Norra Ås and Striberg to Klacka-Lerberg. After the turnoff to Klacka-Lerberg the parking is on the right side, signposted. The road to the tunnel is 500 m further on the right side, the sign Konungastollen is crossed out. (59.5984679, 14.9190428)
Open:	no restrictions. [2024]
Fee:	free. [2024]
Classification:	Iron Mine
Light:	Incandescent Electric Light System
Dimension:	L=270 m, T=5 °C.
Guided tours:	self guided
Photography:	allowed
Accessibility:	no
Bibliography:
Address:	Nora Turistbyrå, Stationshuset, 71380 Nora, Tel: +46-587-81120, Fax: +46-587-10538. E-mail: Maria Waldebrink, Antikvarie, Tel: +46-10-224-84-76. E-mail:
As far as we know this information was accurate when it was published (see years in brackets), but may have changed since then. Please check rates and details directly with the companies in question if you need more recent info.

History

1761	Konungastollen started.
27-SEP-1768	Crown prince Gustav, later King Gustav III, visits the mine.
1859	Klacka och Lerbergs grufvebolag (Klacka and Lerberg's mining company) founded.
1903	mines in the Nora bergslag, including the mines in Klacka-Lerberg, organized under a joint management, the Nora bergslags gemensamma grufveförvaltning (Nora bergslag's joint mine management).
1932	end of mining.
2012	underground tours stopped due to security issues.

Description

The Konungastollen (Kings Adit) was started in 1761 in search of iron ore. The first 53 m were created using hammer and chisel, which is very time-consuming hard work. Later gunpowder was used, which is easier and faster. It is a 270 m long tunnel which ends in an 8 m high chamber. It was in use for a century, in other words it took 100 years to dig the 270 m of gallery. The tunnel was built as an adit, a tunnel mainly intended for the drainage of the Räfbergs gruva (Räfberg's mine). This was possible becaus ethe mine was located on a hill, and the tunnel was built almost horizontally, a little upwards into the hil towards the open cast. During the centuries the mine was abandoned, the iron ore formed stalactites and stalagmites consisting of brown iron oxide. The tunnel is located at the Klacka-Lerbergs Gruvpark (Klacka-Lerberg's mining park).

Iron ore has been mined in the area since the Middle Ages, so there are visible traces of many different mining techniques. Large quantities of iron ore were mines and transported to the furnaces. Early mining used Mine Fire-setting. The rock was heated with fire and then quenched with water to make it brittle. The ore was found on the surface, so the early mines were open cast mines following the ore veins.

At first, the miners managed the mining work together with their families. Later, several miners joined together and formed a mining team. The ore was collected in heaps in the ore square during summer, when mining ended in fall, the piles were fairly distributed among the mine's various co-owners. From the 1850s, companies took over the mining and they employed miners. Here it was the Klacka och Lerbergs grufvebolag (Klacka and Lerberg's mining company), which was founded in 1859. In 1903, many mines in the Nora bergslag, including the mines in Klacka-Lerberg, were organized under a joint management, the Nora bergslags gemensamma grufveförvaltning (Nora bergslag's joint mine management). In 1932 operations ceased.

The Gruvpark has about 30 mine holes, about 10 sharpenings (test mines), 8 ore squares and a number of scrap piles. The largest open cast, Stora Klackagruvan, formerly consisted of five smaller pits, but the walls collapsed and formed a single large pit. There is a car park on the road and wooden signs for the different pits, also a picnic area. The Konungastollen is located on the far side of the mining field. There is also a single lane road to the entrance of the adit.

We listed the site because it is a mining-based open air museum, and because of the Konungastollen, into which underground tours were offered during summer. There were also events and exhibitions. This ended unfortunately in 2012, when the underground tours were stopped due to security issues. There was the danger of rockfall in the tunnel, and some works were necessary. However, Sveaskog, the owner of the tunnel and the site, was not interested to invest any money, and instead offered to sell the mine to Nora municipality, which would allow them to do the maintenance. They even reduced the price of the land, which was estimated to be worth SEK 1.2 Million, to SEK 400,000. Sveaskog is a Swedish state forestry company and Sweden's largest forest owner, and they use the site for timber production. But with all the mining remains, the use is restricted, which is why they would sell it cheaper. The municipality realized how expensive the purchase and the restauration would be and refused. The Föreningen för Gruvparken i Klacka-Lerberg (Association for the Mining Park in Klacka-Lerberg) still wants to reopen the underground tours and asks the municipality to buy the tunnel. Unfortunately, the non-profit association has no funds to do it, and their offer to purchase the land for the nominal amount of SEK 2 and renovate it in volunteer work was refused. The tunnel is now closed for more than a decade, and it seems unlikely that it will be reopened. A visit to the freely accesible mining remains is still recommended.