Stjärnsunds bruk

Stjärnsund Ironworks, which is also called “the white ironworks”, is perhaps the best-preserved eighteenth-century ironworks in Dalarna. It was founded by “the father of Swedish engineering, Christopher Polhem, and his companion Gabriel Stierncrona, and this was once the site of their factory for “objects of general utility”, one of Sweden’s first factories.

Here they also manufactured the Polhem lock, a predecessor of today’s modern locks, and Stiernsund clocks, which are still made in Stjärnsund according to Polhem’s 300-year-old mechanical principle. Much of the works was destroyed by fire in 1737 but it was rebuilt along a north-south axis in accordance with the French ideal. Also in Stjärnsund is the English Park, where the dividing line between park and landscape is fluid, inspired by the picturesque English countryside. In the park there are secret garden paths, an outdoor altar, a trinity well, a summerhouse, sculptures and a skittle alley. A marvellous oasis in Stjärnsund!