Dalen gård (Dalen Farm) - history
Dalen Gård is protected by decision of the The Directorate for Cultural Heritage and is currently owned by Kristiansund municipality.
"Øvre Fosenvågen", which was the original name, was started as a quite simple farm in the 1780s by Walter Miln. In the early days, no one lived on the site, which then only consisted of a barn with a milk cellar and surrounding meadows. At one time, there were several such farms located around the town. In a time with little developed infrastructure between town and country, these farms played an important role as a food supply for the town's population.
At the beginning of the 19th century, the farm came into the possession of the Knudtzon family. The whole place was then called Knudtzondalen, and the farm itself was named Dalen farm. In the years 1808-1810, new cultivation and ditching were carried out on the farm. In the same period, the house that Walter Miln had had in the town was moved and set up here. The farmhouse originally stood in a north-south direction, but became around 1870 turned 90 degrees for weather reasons.
In 1846, Nicoaly Heinrich Knudtzon sold the farm to Hans Larsen Dahl for 4,000 riksdaler. By the standards of the time, Dalen was a fairly large farm with 17 dairy cows, 1 ox and 3 horses.
In 1853, Dahl leased the farm to teacher and merchant Iver Hansen. Hansen started a restaurant with dance performances on the farm, which made Dalen a popular place to go on Sundays. However, this was not popular with provost Folkmann Schaanning. He complained to the bishop and in the same year Hansen was transferred to Røros as a teacher and bell ringer. Dahl had financial problems and sold the farm to Gregorius Aune from Surnadal in 1853.
Two years later, fellow resident Jon Pedersen Glærum bought Dalen farm and moved to the city. In 1883, his son Peder took over the farm. He then ran it until 1921, when his son Jon Glærum became farmer. His son again, Per, was the last to run the place which was then in general called Glærumgården.
In 1952, the municipality expropriated all cultivated land from the farm, in order to build the Atlanten stadium sports facility. Around 1970, Glærum ended farm operations after development in Folkeparken made further operation impossible. In 2004, the municipality expropriated the rest of the property.
In 2013, the farm was declared protected by the Directorate for Cultural Heritage. It is quite unique that in the middle of a city there is a complete farm facility (loop farm) in the form of a row garden with a total of 6 buildings.
In 2016, Dalen Gård Venneforening was founded. The Venneforeningen has an operating agreement with the municipality and has put a lot of effort into the care and maintenance of the building stock.
Audio guides available in:Norsk bokmål, English (British)
