HISTORy

AVDALEN Farm

The farm was first cleared at the end of the 1500s.  The first farmers here came from our neighbouring commune, Luster. The name of the farm, "Avdalen", translates to secluded valley.

Two crofts and two summer farms belonged to Avdalen Farm, which has the size of 23 000 acres. Most of the acres is situated high up in the mountains. The summer farms are called "Vårstølen" and "Gravdalen".  

The size of the cultivated land is about 40 - 50 acres. The farmstead is a cluster of seven buildings in total. 

A productive farm

The farm itself was regarded to be good and productive, but the terrain made the running the farm to be hard work. The sun conditions are good, so the farmers could grow both barley and oats on 12 little patches of land. The grain never froze during winter up here, which was important for the crop.

Water has always been an important resource at the farm. The river Avdalselvi goes by the farm at high speed, and ends up in the waterfall Avdalsfossen which has a length of 183 meters. Dry land was never an issue when it came to growing crops up here, because the water supply was so stabil.

The normal size of the livestock at Avdal Farm was around 50 gotes and six cows, in addition to two-three young animals, two calves, one bull, two pigs and six hens. The horse named Jacob was a norwegian fjordhorse.

The road

The terrain around the farm is very steep. It could be difficult to get there, and it could be potentially dangerous also because of rockfall. Due to this fact a new road was established around the last century. The old road, up Avdalsskåri, goes from the farm Skåri up the steep mountainside along the waterfall Avdalsfossen, following a narrow ledge in the mountainside. 

The last child to be born at the farm was born in 1949. The farm was vacated in 1962. 
 

Source: Solem, Rigmor: Report about Skåri.