Fosnes is a former municipality in

Trøndelag Trøndelag (; or is a county and coextensive with the Trøndelag region (also known as ''Midt-Norge'' or ''Midt-Noreg,'' "Mid-Norway") in the central part of Norway. It was created in 1687, then named Trondhjem County (); in 1804 the county was ...

county A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

. The municipality existed from 1838 until its dissolution in 2020 when it was merged into

Namsos Municipality (Norwegian language, Norwegian) or is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Trøndelag Counties of Norway, county, Norway. It is part of the Namdalen Districts of Norway, region. The administrative centre of the municipality is t ...

. It was part of the

Namdalen Namdalen () is a Districts of Norway, traditional district in the central part of Norway, consisting of the municipalities of Namsos Municipality, Namsos, Grong Municipality, Grong, Overhalla Municipality, Overhalla, Røyrvik Municipality, Røyr ...

region In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as areas, zones, lands or territories, are portions of the Earth's surface that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and ...

. The

administrative centre An administrative centre is a seat of regional administration or local government, or a county town, or the place where the central administration of a commune, is located. In countries with French as the administrative language, such as Belgi ...

of the municipality was the village of

Dun Dun most commonly refers to: *Dun gene, which produces a brownish-gray color (dun) in horses and other Equidae * Dun (fortification), an ancient or medieval fort Dun or DUN may also refer to: Places Scotland * Dun, Angus, a civil parish in ...

on the island of Jøa. Other villages include Salsnes and Nufsfjord. At the time of its dissolution in 2020, the municipality was the 199th largest by area out of the 422 municipalities in Norway. Fosnes was the 413th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 605. The municipality's

population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geog ...

was and its population had decreased by 11% over the last decade.

General information

Fosnes was established as a municipality in the old

Nord-Trøndelag Nord-Trøndelag (; "North Trøndelag") was a counties of Norway, county constituting the northern part of the present-day Trøndelag county in Norway. It bordered the old Sør-Trøndelag ("South Trøndelag") county as well as the county of Nordl ...

county on 1 January 1838 (see

formannskapsdistrikt () was the name of a Norwegian self-governing municipality. The name was used from the establishment these municipalities in 1838 until the name fell out of use in 1863. The municipalities had their legal basis from two laws enacted on 14 Jan ...

law). On 1 January 1871, the western district of Fosnes Municipality (population: 1,472) was separated to form the new

Flatanger Municipality Flatanger is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Trøndelag Counties of Norway, county, Norway. It is part of the Namdalen Districts of Norway, region. The administrative centre of the municipality is Lauvsnes. Other villages incl ...

. This left Fosnes Municipality with 2,655 residents. On 1 January 1889, a small area of Fosnes Municipality (population: 61) was transferred to the neighboring Vikten Municipality. Then on 1 January 1913, the western part of Fosnes Municipality (population: 1,631) was separated to form the new

Otterøy Municipality Otterøy is a former municipality in the old Nord-Trøndelag county, Norway. The municipality existed from 1913 until its dissolution in 1964. The area is now part of Namsos Municipality in Trøndelag county. The former municipality included mo ...

. This left the much smaller Fosnes Municipality with 1,107 residents. During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the

Schei Committee The Schei Committee () was a committee named by the Government of Norway to look into the organization of municipalities in Norway post-World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a ...

. On 1 January 1964, the Finnanger area of Fosnes Municipality on the northern part of the island of

Otterøya Otterøya is an island in Namsos Municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. The island is the largest island in the northern part of Trøndelag county. Otterøya sits just to the northwest of the town of Namsos on the north side of the Namsenf ...

(population: 116) was transferred to

. In 2018, it became part of the new

county which replaced the old

county. On 1 January 2020, Fosnes Municipality became a part of the neighboring

. This happened because on 16 June 2016 Fosnes Municipality,

, and Namdalseid Municipality voted to merge into a new, larger municipality as part of a large municipal reform across Norway.

Name

The municipality (originally the

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christianity, Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest#Christianity, priest, often termed a parish pries ...

) is named after the old ''Fosnes'' farm (), since the first Fosnes Church was built there ( Fosnes Chapel is now located on the site). The first element is ''fólgsn'' which means "hiding place", referring to an

inlet An inlet is a typically long and narrow indentation of a shoreline such as a small arm, cove, bay, sound, fjord, lagoon or marsh, that leads to an enclosed larger body of water such as a lake, estuary, gulf or marginal sea. Overview In ...

behind the farm, where ships could not be seen from the main

fjord In physical geography, a fjord (also spelled fiord in New Zealand English; ) is a long, narrow sea inlet with steep sides or cliffs, created by a glacier. Fjords exist on the coasts of Antarctica, the Arctic, and surrounding landmasses of the n ...

. The last element is which means "

headland A headland, also known as a head, is a coastal landform, a point of land usually high and often with a sheer drop, that extends into a body of water. It is a type of promontory. A headland of considerable size often is called a cape.Whittow, Jo ...

". Historically, the name was spelled ''Fosnæs''.

Coat of arms

The

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the last two being outer garments), originating in Europe. The coat of arms on an escutcheon f ...

was granted on 13 November 1992 and it was in use until 1 January 2020 when the municipality was merged into Namsos. The official

blazon In heraldry and heraldic vexillology, a blazon is a formal description of a coat of arms, flag or similar emblem, from which the reader can reconstruct an accurate image. The verb ''to blazon'' means to create such a description. The visual d ...

is ''" Or, a rowlock

sable The sable (''Martes zibellina'') is a species of marten, a small omnivorous mammal primarily inhabiting the forest environments of Russia, from the Ural Mountains throughout Siberia, and northern Mongolia. Its habitat also borders eastern Kaz ...

"'' (). This means the arms have a

field Field may refer to: Expanses of open ground * Field (agriculture), an area of land used for agricultural purposes * Airfield, an aerodrome that lacks the infrastructure of an airport * Battlefield * Lawn, an area of mowed grass * Meadow, a grass ...

(background) that has a

tincture A tincture is typically an extract of plant or animal material dissolved in ethanol (ethyl alcohol). Solvent concentrations of 25–60% are common, but may run as high as 90%.Groot Handboek Geneeskrachtige Planten by Geert Verhelst In chemistr ...

of Or which means it is commonly colored yellow, but if it is made out of metal, then gold is used. The

charge Charge or charged may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Charge, Zero Emissions/Maximum Speed'', a 2011 documentary Music * ''Charge'' (David Ford album) * ''Charge'' (Machel Montano album) * '' Charge!!'', an album by The Aqu ...

is a oarlock from a rowing boat. The design was chosen to symbolize the importance of the sea for this coastal municipality where rowing boats were the main form of transportation in the former centuries. The arms were designed by Even Jarl Skoglund. The first proposal for a coat of arms for Fosnes date back to 1989 when the municipal council launched a contest to develop a coat of arms. Several proposals were received, but none of them were acceptable to the council nor were they acceptable to the Norwegian Heraldry Society which determined the proposals were not made according to heraldic rules. Finally the Society proposed the current coat of arms, which was acceptable to the municipal council.

Churches

The

Church of Norway The Church of Norway (, , , ) is an Lutheranism, evangelical Lutheran denomination of Protestant Christianity and by far the largest Christian church in Norway. Christianity became the state religion of Norway around 1020, and was established a ...

had one parish () within Fosnes Municipality. It was part of the

Namdal prosti This list of churches in Nidaros is a list of the Church of Norway churches in the Diocese of Nidaros in Norway. It includes all of the parishes in Trøndelag county. The diocese is based at the Nidaros Cathedral in the city of Trondheim (city), T ...

(

deanery A deanery (or decanate) is an ecclesiastical entity in the Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Anglican Communion, the Evangelical Church in Germany, and the Church of Norway. A deanery is either the jurisdiction or residence of ...

) in the

Diocese of Nidaros Nidaros is a diocese in the Lutheran Church of Norway. It covers Trøndelag county in Central Norway and its cathedral city is Trondheim, which houses the well-known Nidaros Cathedral. Since 10 September 2017, the Bishop of Nidaros is Herborg ...

Geography

Fosnes was a coastal municipality located along the Foldafjord, north of the town of Namsos. The municipality included the island of Jøa, part of the island of Elvalandet, and part of the mainland. The second deepest lake in

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

, Salvatnet, and the lake Mjosundvatnet are both located in the eastern part of the municipality. The highest point in the municipality was the tall mountain Grønkleppen.

Government

While it existed, Fosnes Municipality was responsible for

primary education Primary education is the first stage of Education, formal education, coming after preschool/kindergarten and before secondary education. Primary education takes place in ''primary schools'', ''elementary schools'', or first schools and middle s ...

(through 10th grade), outpatient

health services Health care, or healthcare, is the improvement or maintenance of health via the preventive healthcare, prevention, diagnosis, therapy, treatment, wikt:amelioration, amelioration or cure of disease, illness, injury, and other disability, physic ...

senior citizen Old age is the range of ages for people nearing and surpassing life expectancy. People who are of old age are also referred to as: old people, elderly, elders, senior citizens, seniors or older adults. Old age is not a definite biological sta ...

services,

welfare Welfare may refer to: Philosophy *Well-being (happiness, prosperity, or flourishing) of a person or group * Utility in utilitarianism * Value in value theory Economics * Utility, a general term for individual well-being in economics and decision ...

and other

social services Social services are a range of public services intended to provide support and assistance towards particular groups, which commonly include the disadvantaged. Also available amachine-converted HTML They may be provided by individuals, private and i ...

zoning In urban planning, zoning is a method in which a municipality or other tier of government divides land into land-use "zones", each of which has a set of regulations for new development that differs from other zones. Zones may be defined for ...

economic development In economics, economic development (or economic and social development) is the process by which the economic well-being and quality of life of a nation, region, local community, or an individual are improved according to targeted goals and object ...

, and municipal

road A road is a thoroughfare used primarily for movement of traffic. Roads differ from streets, whose primary use is local access. They also differ from stroads, which combine the features of streets and roads. Most modern roads are paved. Th ...

s and utilities. The municipality was governed by a

municipal council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, borough cou ...

of directly elected representatives. The

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...

was

indirectly elected An indirect election or ''hierarchical voting,'' is an election in which voters do not choose directly among candidates or parties for an office ( direct voting system), but elect people who in turn choose candidates or parties. It is one of the o ...

by a vote of the municipal council. The municipality was under the jurisdiction of the Namdal District Court and the

Frostating Court of Appeal The Frostating Court of Appeal () is one of six courts of appeal in the Kingdom of Norway. The Court is located in the city of Trondheim. The court has jurisdiction over the counties of Trøndelag and Møre og Romsdal. These areas constitute the ...

Municipal council

The

of Fosnes was made up of 13 representatives that were elected to four year terms. The tables below show the historical composition of the council by political

party A party is a gathering of people who have been invited by a Hospitality, host for the purposes of socializing, conversation, recreation, or as part of a festival or other commemoration or celebration of a special occasion. A party will oft ...

Mayors

The

() of Fosnes was the political leader of the municipality and the chairperson of the municipal council. Here is a list of people who held this position: *1838–1841: Peter Hersleb Graah Birkeland *1842–1843: Mathias Krog *1844–1845: Elias Bedsvåg *1846–1847: O.H. Wedege *1848–1849: Johan Peter Berg *1850–1853: Elias Bedsvåg *1854–1857: P.M. Aglen *1858–1861: Elias Bedsvåg *1862–1865: O. Soelberg *1866–1870: Olaus Wedege *1871–1873: O. Soelberg *1874–1878: Emil Ellefsen *1879–1887: Andreas Hamnes *1888–1890: Peder Aglen ( H) *1891–1901: Olaus Kjølstad ( V) *1902–1905: Peder Aglen ( H) *1908–1910: Olaus Kjølstad ( V) *1911–1919: Brede Kvalstad ( V) *1920–1922: Magnus Five *1923–1925: Brede Kvalstad ( Bp) *1925-1925: Iver K. Hoff ( Bp) *1926–1934: H.B. Bragstad ( H) *1935–1937: Peter J. Devik ( Bp) *1938–1941: H.B. Bragstad ( H) *1942–1945: Sigurd Kvalstad ( NS) *1945-1945: H.B. Bragstad ( H) *1946–1947: Trygve Rørmark ( Ap) *1947-1947: Aksel Strøm ( V) *1948–1951: Trygve Duun ( Bp) *1952–1955: Peder Stene ( Ap) *1956–1957: Leiv Skrøvstad ( Bp) *1958–1959: Torleiv Hoff ( Bp) *1960–1963: Rolf Aarmo ( Ap) *1964–1971: Håkon Bjøru ( V) *1972–1979: Per Gansmo ( Sp) *1980–1983: Agnar Moe ( Sp) *1984–1995: Arne B. Skomsvold ( Sp) *1995–2007: Kristen Dille ( Sp) *2007–2015: Bjørg Tingstad ( Sp) *2015–2019: Trygve Sandvik ( Sp)

References

{{authority control Namsos Former municipalities of Norway 1838 establishments in Norway 2020 disestablishments in Norway Populated places established in 1838 Populated places disestablished in 2020