Blomsholm in Skee parish in Bohuslän is an area north of Strömstad where there are many ancient monuments from the Stone Age to the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...

. Among other things, there is one of Sweden's largest referee rings and

shipwrecks A shipwreck is the wreckage of a ship that is located either beached on land or sunken to the bottom of a body of water. Shipwrecking may be intentional or unintentional. Angela Croome reported in January 1999 that there were approximately ...

in the area. Unlike most other referee rings, the referee ring consists of an even number (10) of boulders around the centre stone. The diameter is 38 meters. The shipwreck is 41 meters long, 9 meters wide and consists of 49 stones. These have different heights, the stones amidships are one meter while the stones in the bow and stern are 4 meters high. Also 7

burial grounds A cemetery, burial ground, gravesite or graveyard is a place where the remains of dead people are buried or otherwise interred. The word ''cemetery'' (from Greek , "sleeping place") implies that the land is specifically designated as a buri ...

from the

Iron Age The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age (Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age (Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostly appl ...

and the large mound Grönehög can be found here.

Blomsholms Manor

Blomsholms manor, which was founded in 1625 by the North German nobleman Anders Blume, was first sold in 1628 and already in 1644, General Sven Ranck became the manor's fifth owner. A memorial stone from the 1660s over Sven Ranck and his wife Anna Bergengren is in the middle of the shipwreck, even though they are not buried there. At the beginning of the 18th century, the manor burned down and was replaced in 1710 by the buildings that still exist on the site. During

Charles XII Charles XII, sometimes Carl XII ( sv, Karl XII) or Carolus Rex (17 June 1682 – 30 November 1718 O.S.), was King of Sweden (including current Finland) from 1697 to 1718. He belonged to the House of Palatinate-Zweibrücken, a branch line o ...

's war against

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

in 1718, the manor functioned as a field hospital because it was located on Galärvägen, the transport route that Charles XII used with the help of 800 soldiers to transport twelve ships (

galleys A galley is a type of ship that is propelled mainly by oars. The galley is characterized by its long, slender hull, shallow draft, and low freeboard (clearance between sea and gunwale). Virtually all types of galleys had sails that could be u ...

) over land and via the lakes Strömsvattnet and Färingen to

Ise Fjord Ise Fjord ( da, Isefjorden) is a deeply branched arm of the sea into the Danish island Zealand. From its relatively narrow entrance from the Kattegat at Hundested and Rørvig, branches of Ise Fjord stretch 35 km inland and divide the northern ...

. Soldiers who died during the war are said to be buried in the shipwreck. Statarlängan, built in 1899, is today a restaurant and museum where one of the four apartments is decorated in the same way as it was when the last

statesman A statesman or stateswoman typically is a politician who has had a long and respected political career at the national or international level. Statesman or Statesmen may also refer to: Newspapers United States * ''The Statesman'' (Oregon), a n ...

lived here in 1938. Blomsholm's estate has now been owned by GLG-fastigheter AB since 2012.

Gallery

File:Stone ship at Blomsholm, Sweden.jpg, A

stone ship The stone ship or ship setting was an early burial custom in Scandinavia, Northern Germany, and the Baltic states. The grave or cremation burial was surrounded by slabs or stones in the shape of a boat or ship. The ships vary in size and were e ...

tomb at Blomsholm.

Literature

* Jan Ottander: ''Blomsholm. 2000 år av händelser''. Länsstyrelsen i Västra Götalands län, Göteborg 1999, (''Länsstyrelsen Västra Götaland'' 20, ). * Jan Ottander: ''Blomsholm. 2000 years of settlement''. (''Länsstyrelsen Västra Götaland'' publication 1999:20, ). Manor houses in Sweden Buildings and structures in Bohuslän {{Sweden-struct-stub