Ulefoss is one of Norway's oldest industrial communities, built around ironworks and waterpower at the mouth of Eidselva river where it meets lake Norsjø.
Ulefos Jernværk was founded in 1657, extracting iron ore from the volcanic Fensfeltet a few kilometres south. The foundry produced pig iron until 1877 and wood-burning stoves until the 1950s. It is one of the longest-running industrial companies in the Nordic region and still operates today, though with different products.
The Ulefoss locks are the first lock system on the upper section of Telemarkskanalen. Three chambers lift boats 10.7 metres, with walls of hewn stone and wooden gates. The locks were completely renovated in 2012. Right next to them is the Iron and Canal Exhibition, which includes a lock gate model that was sent to the World Exhibition in Paris in 1900.
Above the town sits Ulefos Hovedgaard, completed in 1807 as a summer residence for merchant Niels Aall. It is considered Norway's finest Empire-style manor house. Aall served as Minister of Trade during the adoption of the constitution in 1814, and crucial political discussions took place here. Kings Haakon VII and Olav V both visited. The manor is now a museum with an English-style park.
Ulefos Jernværk was founded in 1657, extracting iron ore from the volcanic Fensfeltet a few kilometres south. The foundry produced pig iron until 1877 and wood-burning stoves until the 1950s. It is one of the longest-running industrial companies in the Nordic region and still operates today, though with different products.
The Ulefoss locks are the first lock system on the upper section of Telemarkskanalen. Three chambers lift boats 10.7 metres, with walls of hewn stone and wooden gates. The locks were completely renovated in 2012. Right next to them is the Iron and Canal Exhibition, which includes a lock gate model that was sent to the World Exhibition in Paris in 1900.
Above the town sits Ulefos Hovedgaard, completed in 1807 as a summer residence for merchant Niels Aall. It is considered Norway's finest Empire-style manor house. Aall served as Minister of Trade during the adoption of the constitution in 1814, and crucial political discussions took place here. Kings Haakon VII and Olav V both visited. The manor is now a museum with an English-style park.