The foundry and forge ruins of Borgvik are an interesting and vital part of the Borgvik iron works history. Come and see this important part of Borgviks history today!
The foundry was built in 1865 and was in operation until 1922. Here the ore was melted into pig iron. Today only the blast furnace remains along with a wall with three arches . The foundry ruin is next to Borgvik river and the rapids.
In Borgvik there has been iron production since the beginning of the 17th century. But the hay day of iron production in Borgvik was between 1840 to the end of that same century as the big rebuild happened during this period.
The big rebuild happened because of the new techniques and methods that were globally changing the iron business and when these methods were adapted in Borgvik the iron works grew rapidly in to the iron giant they later became. The Iron works were bigger than just the iron production and required more space. So they owned mills, farms, forest and even had shares in the local mines. From the farms and forest they produced products that were shipped across lake Vänern to Gothenburg and from there across the seas to foreign countries.
In 1862 the process of building the new blast furnace began. The project manager was Jonas Olsson, a childhood friend of inventor John Ericsson. The furnace was finished in 1865 and was run for the fist time om the 14th of December 1865. It was constantly running for 2110 days until the 25th of September 1871 when it was closed for a maintenence. This is the longest running time for a charcoal furnace ever in Sweden.
In 1870 the blasting furnace was the most productive of the 25 that existed in Värmland with a production och 92504 cwt, which is the same as 4699 tonnes of pig iron. Borgvik also had the highest day production of 254,1 cwt or 12,1 tonnes. The production of iron in the furnace ended on the 3rd of October 1922 and the rolling mill closed on the 5th of April 1924.
Historical tours are arranged all year in Borgvik for both adults and children. The contents of the tours depends on the group. Please contact Stig Olsen at +4670-640 61 22 for more information.