Edøy Municipality
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Edøy Municipality
Edøy herad | |
|---|---|
| Edø herred (historic name) | |
 View of the Edøy Church | |
 Møre og Romsdal within Norway | |
 Edøy within Møre og Romsdal | |
| Coordinates: 63°20′02″N 08°03′56″E / 63.33389°N 8.06556°E | |
| Country | Norway |
| County | Møre og Romsdal |
| District | Nordmøre |
| Established | 1 Jan 1838 |
| • Created as | Formannskapsdistrikt |
| Disestablished | 1 Jan 1960 |
| • Succeeded by | Smøla Municipality |
| Government | |
| • Mayor (1948-1959) | Ove Gjernes (V) |
| Area (upon dissolution) | |
• Total | 150.6 km2 (58.1 sq mi) |
| • Rank | #445 in Norway |
| Highest elevation | 69.62 m (228.4 ft) |
| Population (1959) | |
• Total | 1,115 |
| • Rank | #629 in Norway |
| • Density | 7.4/km2 (19/sq mi) |
| • Change (10 years) |  −4.5% |
| Official language | |
| • Norwegian form | Nynorsk[3] |
| Time zone | UTC+01:00 (CET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+02:00 (CEST) |
| ISO 3166 code | NO-1573[4] |
Edøy is a former municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. The municipality existed from 1838 until its dissolution in 1960. It was located in the southern and central parts of the present-day Smøla Municipality. The old municipality originally encompassed all the islands surrounding the Edøyfjorden. This included the islands of Smøla, Tustna, Stabblandet, and the many smaller islands between the larger ones. The island of Edøya lies between the two and that was the center of the old municipality. Over time, parts of Edøy were split off to form other municipalities. At the time it was dissolved, Edøy Municipality was 150.6 square kilometres (58.1 sq mi). The Old Edøy Church and later the (new) Edøy Church were the main churches for the municipality.[5]
Prior to its dissolution in 1960, the 150.6-square-kilometre (58.1 sq mi) municipality was the 445th largest by area out of the 743 municipalities in Norway. Edøy Municipality was the 629th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of about 1,115. The municipality's population density was 7.4 inhabitants per square kilometre (19/sq mi) and its population had decreased by 4.5% over the previous 5-year period.[6][7]
Name
The parish of Edø (later spelled Edøy) was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt law). A royal resolution of 3 May 1873 directed that the southern Tustern parish be removed from Edøy Municipality to create the new Tustern Municipality effective on 1 January 1874. This left Edøy Municipality with 2,166 inhabitants.[8]
On 1 January 1915, the large Edøy Municipality was split into three to form: Edøy Municipality (population: 973) in the south, Hopen Municipality (population: 1,050) in the northeast, and Brattvær Municipality (population: 1,452) in the northwest.[8]
During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. On 1 January 1960, the 1915 partition was reversed, merging Brattvær Municipality (population: 1,361), Edøy Municipality (population: 1,135), and Hopen Municipality (population: 1,550), creating the new Smøla Municipality.[8]
The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the old Edøy farm (Old Norse: Æðey) since the Old Edøy Church was built there. The first element is æðr which means "eider", a common type of sea bird for the area. The last element is ey which means "island".[5][9] Historically, the name of the municipality was spelled Edø. On 3 November 1917, a royal resolution changed the spelling of the name of the municipality to Edøy.[10]
Churches
The Church of Norway had one parish (sokn) within Edøy Municipality. At the time of the municipal dissolution, it was part of the Edøy prestegjeld and the Nordmøre prosti (deanery) in the Diocese of Nidaros.[7]
| Parish (sokn) | Church name | Location of the church | Year built |
|---|---|---|---|
| Edøy | Edøy Church | Straumen | 1885 |
| Old Edøy Church | Edøya | 1190 |
In 2019, archaeologists from the Norwegian Institute for Cultural Heritage Research using large-scale high-resolution georadar technology, determined that a 17-metre (56 ft) long Viking ship was buried near the Edøy Church. Traces of a small settlement were also found. They estimate the ship's age as over 1,000 years: from the Merovingian or Viking period. The group planned to conduct additional searches in the area. A similar burial was found previously by NIKU archaeologists in 2018, in Gjellestad.[11]
Geography
The municipality was located on the southern part of the large island of Smøla, along with the surrounding smaller islets and skerries including Kuli and Edøya. Brattvær Municipality was located to the northwest and Hopen Municipality was located to the northeast. The highest point in the municipality was the 69.62-metre (228.4 ft) tall mountain Ramndalshaugen on the small island of Kuli.[1]
