Bjølstad Farm

About

The Bjølstad Farm (Norwegian: Bjølstad gård) is a farm in the Heidal valley of Sel Municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. The farm was mentioned in written sources as early as 1270. Eirik Bjørnsson, who gradually purchased the farm in the 1430s, was the ancestor of the Bratt family, who had lived at the farm for many generations.

By 1680, it had developed into a scattered farming settlement with more than 26 leased-out properties and 700 buildings. One of its larger properties is the farm named Søre Lykkja ('South Lykkja'), also known as Bjølstadløkken, to the northwest. The Veslesetra property also belongs to the farm.

In 1904 the farm had 100 hectares (250 acres) of cultivated land and 3,000 hectares (7,400 acres) of forest. The farm is privately owned. The Bjølstad Chapel, now relocated at Heidal Church, is a timber-framed structure dating from 1531 that can accommodate 75 people.

Its doorposts are believed to date from an earlier stave church and are decorated with Urnes Style carvings. For a time, the chapel was defunct and used as a stable and barn. Nine buildings at the Bjølstad Farm received protected status under the Cultural Heritage Act of 1920.

The farm served as the...