Färna Herrgård was built in 1776 by Jacob Ramsell. Herrgården got its current appearance in 1857 during the time of Count Carl Johan von Hermansson.

A lot has happened since then. The beautiful dining rooms remain and have been supplemented with a bar, reception and a lovely conservatory
lounge to just relax in.

The history of Färna

Färna has been inhabited since the 16th century. The oldest evidence for the place name is from 1467 (Fegernæ). As an ironworks, you can certainly follow Färna back to 1607. At that time there was a hammer here with two hearths. The facility was originally a crown mill, but was granted in 1617 by Gustaf II Adolf to a Halfvar Olsson. However, the mill’s actual fou nder was the powerful businesswoman Edla Widiksdotter, widow of Comrade Abrahamsson. Under her leadership, the mill movement was expanded in 1632–40 and in 1641 the mill was privileged to forge 1,200 ship pounds of bar iron.

A decade later, the mill was in the ownership of Abraham Momma, and Abraham and his brother Jakob developed the mill operations considerably. A third bar iron hammer was added, an anchor forge was built in 1678 and a hammer for the production of forged roofing sheets was added in 1685. Abraham was also in the Crown’s service and he started several mines, such as Kengis in Norrbotten and Svappavaara in Lapland. For this effort he was knighted Reenstierna. He also lent large sums of money to the Swedish Crown and introduced salt during the Anglo-Dutch naval war. However, Abraham was forced to pledge Färna to the businessman Claes Wilkens, whose descendants and relatives ran the mill during the years 1692–1789

In 1737, Färna is mentioned as a steel mill with a furnace and plate hammer and three bar iron hammers. In 1742, the young and talented Jacob Ramsell became bookkeeper and administrator at Färna Mill. Jacob, who grew up in poor conditions but studied mining on his own, came to enforce a series of modernizations of the operation. 

Hin drich Wilkens and his one year older sister Eva Margareta Wilkens, who were both unmarried, owned the mill during this time. Jacob later began a romance with Eva Margareta, something her brother did not consider appropriate. In the end, however, he had to give in and Jacob and Eva Margareta got married.

After Hindrich Wilken’s death in 1767, Jacob Ramsell became the sole owner of Färna. He expanded Färna mill significantly by buying other properties, i.a. Bockhammar and Trummelsberg. The Ramsell couple rem ained childless and in 1789 they established Färna and Bockhammar’s fideicommiss as they wanted access to forest for charcoal. The Fideikommisset was the largest in Sweden to the surface at the time.

Jacob Ramsell was known as a very skilled and successfu l businessman, for which he was later praised when he became a knight of the Order of Wasa. Finnbo and Björnhyttan together produced 6 2/5 mill. kg pig iron per year. The pig iron is then further processed at Bockhammar’s, Kedjebo’s and Virsbo’s Lancashire forges into cast pieces. These were then sent to Färna bruk’s rolling mill for rolling into rebar.

Färna and Bockhammar’s fideicommiss

At the beginning of the 19th century, ownership passed by inheritance to Jacob Dahlsson Ramsell’s sister Carolina, who was married to Count
Carl Johan von Hermansson from Moholm in Västergötland. Von Hemansson, who was a member of the Diet,
modernized the mill by introducing Lancashire forge in Färna. However, he allowed the old forging method to remain
other uses. After von Hermansson’s death, ownership passed to his son Carl Fredrik von Hermansson. In the early 1880s, Färna farm comprised around 45,000 hectares. Bockhammar, Trummelsberg, Finnbo and
Björnhyttan with blast furnace. Carl Fredrik von Hermansson also bought Vi rsbo mills and “Fernaverken” also included mines and shares in mines such as the Risberg and Kolningsberg fields in Norberg, parts of the Nyberg, Gräsberg and Grängesberg mines in Dalarna and the famous manganese mines at Schisshyttan.

The Fideikommisset and the iron mill are closed down

In the 1890s, the large mill complex slowly but surely began to be broken up by the sale of Björnhytte mill and Virsbo mill. At the beginning of the 20th century, the total area had fallen to 22,677 hectares. After Carl Fre drik von Hermansson’s death in 1906, Färna was inherited by his eldest daughter Eva, married to the mining engineer Count Samuel af Ugglas. By this time it had become increasingly difficult to manage the mill in a timely manner (which lacked good communications).
Therefore, the trust was wound up in 1907 and the various properties were sold.

At that time, iron production was already mainly concentrated at Färna, where there was a Lancashire forge with 8 hearths, as well as medium and fine rolling mills. The annual production in 1906 was around 5,000 tons of rolled and fine iron. It was of high quality and highly sought after. The rebar was obtained from Trummelsberg’s and Finnbo’s blast furnaces, which together had an average production of around 6,500 tons per year. Both Trummelsberg and Finnbo were closed in 1907.

 

In 1907, Färna mill was bought by Baron Johan Nordenfalk. During Nordenfalk’s time in Färna, the area experienced a period of prosperity until the Great Depression at the end of the 20th century. Nordenfalk then transferred Färna mill to Ramnäs mill, in which he owned shares. In 1930, the operation at Färna was shut down, and of the old production facilities, today nothing more than the foundation walls remains.

In 1934, the facilities were bought by the Domain Authority, later Assi Domain. Periodically it was empty, but during the war years Färna was a camp for Norwegian police troops. In the meadow north of the barn there was a barrack village for about 1200 young men. At the end of the war, they were sent to Finnmark in northern Norway to fill the void left by Germany leaving Norway. After the war, Jewish female refugees came to Färna for a few years, waiting for them to return to their homelands.

Since 1994, the manor is once again privately owned, now by Wenche and Gerald Engström. A new era dawned and today Färna is a reputable hotel and conference facility with a modern spa.