Svartrå
Encyclopedia
Falkenberg Municipality
Falkenberg Municipality is a municipality in Halland County on the Swedish west coast. The town Falkenberg is the municipal seat....
, Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
with about 200 citizens. It formed a parish until 2006, when the parish merged with Köinge
Köinge, Falkenberg Municipality
Köinge is a village in Falkenberg Municipality, Sweden. It formed a separate parish until 2005, when it became a part of Okome parish. The village has about 200 inhabitants.-History:...
and Okome
Okome
Okome is a parish and village in Falkenberg, Sweden. The village has a population of about 160, and the parish as a whole has a population of about 500. The village has some services, such as a primary school and a car repair shop. As well as Okome Village the parish also includes Köinge and...
parish to form Okome parish. It was a municipality between 1863 and 1951. A brook, Svartån, flows through the area. It is likely to have given name to the village which in turn gave the parish its name. Svartrå was first mention in 1461, then spelt Swa[r]teraa. Svart means black, while rå means owner's mark or border.
The children usually attend Okome
Okome
Okome is a parish and village in Falkenberg, Sweden. The village has a population of about 160, and the parish as a whole has a population of about 500. The village has some services, such as a primary school and a car repair shop. As well as Okome Village the parish also includes Köinge and...
school until the age of 12, whereafter they attend Apelskolan in Ullared
Ullared
Ullared is a locality situated in Falkenberg Municipality, Halland County, Sweden, with 820 inhabitants in 2005.The village hosts a large department store, Gekås. It is one of the largest stores in Sweden and the growth of the store has made Ullared more or less synonymous with low prices among...
. However, the children in the most northern part of the area spend all their compulsory education at Apelskolan. The area is a political stronghold for the Centre Party
Centre Party (Sweden)
The Centre Party is a centrist political party in Sweden. The party maintains close ties to rural Sweden and describes itself as "a green social liberal party". The ideology is sometimes called agrarian, but in a European context, the Centre Party can perhaps best be characterized as social...
which usuallys gain around 50 percent of the votes.
Geography and geology
Svartrå is delimited to the east by HögvadsånHögvadsån
Högvadsån is the largest tributary of river Ätran, Sweden. It is well known for the fishing of salmon and is chalked in order to counteract acid rain. It is protected by Natura 2000....
, of which Svartån is a tributary. The southern and eastern parts of the area is predominantly cultivated, while the northern and western parts are covered by forests. The ratio between cultivated and forested areas has however fluctuated considerably during history and the parish was almost free of any forest as late as in the early 20th century. Sumpafallen and Björkekullen Nature Reserve are located in the area, the latter being a farm museum
Farm museum
A farm museum is a museum based on a historical farm and its buildings, presenting agricultural history. Often the farm is still a working farm, for demonstration and educational purposes....
. As the ice receded during the last glacial period parts of Svartrå formed a bay. Glacier rivers eroded the land and made it comparatively hilly.
History
Some remains from the stone ageStone Age
The Stone Age is a broad prehistoric period, lasting about 2.5 million years , during which humans and their predecessor species in the genus Homo, as well as the earlier partly contemporary genera Australopithecus and Paranthropus, widely used exclusively stone as their hard material in the...
has been found, such as flint objects and arrow points. There are bronze-
Bronze Age
The Bronze Age is a period characterized by the use of copper and its alloy bronze as the chief hard materials in the manufacture of some implements and weapons. Chronologically, it stands between the Stone Age and Iron Age...
and iron age
Iron Age
The Iron Age is the archaeological period generally occurring after the Bronze Age, marked by the prevalent use of iron. The early period of the age is characterized by the widespread use of iron or steel. The adoption of such material coincided with other changes in society, including differing...
remains in the vicinity of the church, as well as bronze age remains at Vårdhögen, a hill top.
The church date back to the 12th century and has survived several planned destructions. The village was split up due to agricultural reforms in the mid 19th century (laga skifte).
Falkenberg railway
Falkenberg railway
Falkenberg Railway was an 891 mm gauge narrow gauge railway line between Falkenberg and Limmared in Sweden. It was inaugurated 28 September 1894 and was in use until 1959/1961.-History:...
and Varberg-Ätran railway had stations in Svartråhed and Skinnarlyngen in the first part of the 20th century. Svartrå had a school in one form or another from about 1850 to 1960. The population topped during the later part of the 19th century, when it reached about 500 people. It was depopulated during most of the 20th century, until a population of about 200 people was reached. It has remained on that level for the last decades.
Economy
Svartrå has never been home to any major industrial activity, although it has had a few minor sawmillSawmill
A sawmill is a facility where logs are cut into boards.-Sawmill process:A sawmill's basic operation is much like those of hundreds of years ago; a log enters on one end and dimensional lumber exits on the other end....
s as well as a gravel pit
Gravel pit
Gravel pit is the term for an open cast working for extraction of gravel. Gravel pits often lie in river valleys where the water table is high, so they may fill naturally with water to form ponds or lakes. Old, abandoned gravel pits are normally used either as nature reserves, or as amenity areas...
.