Vormedal Explained

Official Name:Vormedal
Nickname:Vormis, V-valley
Settlement Type:Village
Pushpin Map:Rogaland#Norway
Pushpin Label Position:top
Pushpin Map Caption:Location in Rogaland county
Subdivision Type:Country
Subdivision Name:Norway
Subdivision Name1:Western Norway
Subdivision Name2:Rogaland
Subdivision Type3:District
Subdivision Name3:Haugaland
Subdivision Type4:Municipality
Subdivision Name4:Karmøy
Utc Offset1:+01:00
Utc Offset1 Dst:+02:00
Area Total Km2:1.28
Population As Of:2014
Population Total:2,738
Population Density Km2:2139
Postal Code Type:Post Code
Postal Code:5545 Vormedal
Elevation M:27
Elevation Footnotes:[1]
Coordinates:59.3575°N 5.3147°W

Vormedal is a village in Karmøy municipality in Rogaland county, Norway. The village is located about south of the city of Haugesund in Western Norway. It sits on the mainland along the Karmsundet strait, directly across the strait from the village of Avaldsnes on the island of Karmøy. The 1.28km2 village has a population (2014) of 2738, giving the village a population density of .[2]

History

Vormedal was originally an area consisting mostly of farmland and it has a documented history going back to the early 1500s. Archaeological finds have indicated that the area has been populated for even longer, possibly for as long as 4000 years.

The area was originally part of the parish (and municipality) of Avaldsnes. It was situated along the old church route that led churchgoers from the areas around the nearby Førresfjorden in the east as they traveled to visit the Avaldsnes Church, after arriving in Vormedal, they had to take a short boat ride across the Karmsundet. Vormedal was also an important location for travelers coming from the village areas more to the south such as Snik, Røyksund, and Fosen as it was the most direct road to Haugesund.

When the Førre Church in the village of Førre opened in 1893, some of the traffic going to and from the church stopped, and when the new main road called Spannevegen opened in the early 1900s, it connected Haugesund with Røyksund, but it ran east of Vormedal, so a lot of the commercial traffic also stopped. In 1965 the municipality of Avaldsnes was merged with the other municipalities on the island of Karmøy to form the new Karmøy municipality. In 1978 the first church on mainland Karmøy was opened, Norheim Church, located in the village of Norheim just north of Vormedal. This new church was the centre of a new parish which also included Vormedal.[3]

Today, Vormedal mostly consists of large residential areas, with one primary and one lower secondary school; three kindergartens as well as a fire station and a small shopping center. Vormedal also has an alginate production facility owned by FMC Health and Nutrition.[4]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Vormedal, Karmøy (Rogaland) . 2015-11-11 . . Norwegian.
  2. Web site: Statistisk sentralbyrå . Statistics Norway . 1 January 2014 . Urban settlements. Population and area, by municipality. .
  3. Book: Lillehammer, Arnvid . Bygdebok for Karmøy: Avaldsnes II . 1993 . Norwegian.
  4. News: Eide . Kristin . 5 February 2009 . Verdensledende på Vormedal . Norwegian . Haugesunds Avis . 10 January 2015.