Hedrum Municipality Hedrum kommune
Former municipality
Hedrum herred  (historic name)
View of the localHedrum Church
Flag Coat of arms
Vestfold within Norway
Hedrum within Vestfold
Coordinates:59°07′24″N10°03′35″E / 59.1232°N 10.0596°E /59.1232; 10.0596
Country	Norway
County	Vestfold
District	Larvik
Established	1 Jan 1838
• Created as	Formannskapsdistrikt
Disestablished	1 Jan 1988
• Succeeded by	Larvik Municipality
Administrative centre	Hedrum (1838-1952) Nanset (1952-1988)
Area  (upon dissolution)
• Total	264 km2 (102 sq mi)
Population  (1988)
• Total	10,449
• Density	40/km2 (100/sq mi)
Demonym	Hedrumssokning[1]
Official language [2]
• Norwegian form	Bokmål
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (CEST)
ISO 3166 code	NO-0727[3]
Data from Statistics Norway

Hedrum is aformer municipality inVestfold county,Norway. The 264-square-kilometre (102 sq mi) municipality existed from 1838 until its dissolution in 1988. The area is now part ofLarvik Municipality. Theadministrative centre was the village ofNanset (from 1978-1988; prior to that, the municipal administration was located in the village of Hedrum where theHedrum Church is located). Other villages in Hedrum includeGjone,Kvelde,Skinmo, andVerningen.^[4]

Hedrum municipality was located in theLågendalen valley, the lower part of the valley that follows the riverNumedalslågen. The valley is relatively flat and dominated by agricultural areas. The valley is surrounded by wooded hills which rise up towards 500-metre (1,600 ft) tall mountain peaks. Among other things, the area is known for potato cultivation and fishing.^[5]

Theparish of Hedrum was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (seeformannskapsdistrikt law). Over the years, there have been many municipal border adjustments. On 1 January 1875, an area of Hedrum (population: 46) became part of the neighboringtown of Larvik. On 1 January 1878, an area of Hedrum (population: 61) became part of the neighboring municipality ofAndebu. On 1 January 1891, an area ofTjølling municipality (population: 11) became part of Hedrum. In 1937, an area of Hedrum (population: 69) became part of the neighboringtown of Larvik. In 1948, an area of Hedrum (population: 296) became part of the neighboringtown of Larvik.^[6]

During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of theSchei Committee. On 1 January 1964, two border adjustments were made in Hedrum. One area of Hedrum (population: 16) was transferred toSiljan Municipality (inTelemark county) and the adjacent Bakke area (population: 75) was transferred toPorsgrunn Municipality (also in Telemark county). On 1 January 1968, the unpopulated Svartangen area of Siljan was transferred to Hedrum (andVestfold county). On 1 January 1974 the unpopulated Tagtvedt area of Hedrum was transferred to the neighboringtown of Larvik. On 1 January 1983, the unpopulated Bergan area of Hedrum was transferred to the neighboringLardal municipality. On 1 January 1986, part of the Åsveien 3 property in Hedrum was transferred to the neighboringtown of Larvik. On 9 January 1987 an unpopulated area in northern Hedrum was transferred toLardal municipality.^[6]

On 1 January 1988, the municipality was dissolved as part of a major municipality merger which consolidated the municipalities ofBrunlanes (population: 8,138), Hedrum (population: 10,449), andTjølling (population: 7,878) with the towns ofLarvik (population: 8,045) andStavern (population: 2,538) to create a new, much largerLarvik Municipality with a population of 37,048 people.^[6]

The municipality (originally theparish) is named after the oldHedrum farm (Old Norse:Heiðarheimr) since the firstHedrum Church was built there. The first element is thegenitive case of the wordheiðr which means "heath" or "moorland". The last element isheimr which means "home" or "abode".^[7]

Thecoat of arms was granted on 18 November 1966. The officialblazon is"Vert, abend wavyargent" (Norwegian:På grønn bunn en sølv skråbjelke dannet ved bølgesnitt). This means the arms have a greenfield (background) and thecharge is a wavy diagonal line. The charge has atincture ofargent which means it is commonly colored white, but if it is made out of metal, then silver is used. The green color in the field symbolizes the importance of the local forests and the wavy line was chosen to symbolize the riverNumedalslågen which flows through the municipality. The arms were designed by D. Krohn-Holm, Jr. The municipal flag had the same design as the coat of arms.^[8][9]

Hedrum Church (Hedrum Kirke) is a medieval era church that was the main church for the municipality. It is one of several ancient stone churches within a vicinity which also includes churches atHem, as well asEfteløt andHedenstad inBuskerud.^[10] Other churches in Hedrum includeKvelde Church andHvarnes Church.

Hedrum Church was built of stone around 1100. The church celebrated its 950-year anniversary in 2010. The church has a rectangularnave, squarechoir andapse. Building Archaeological studies show that the apse is added later. The structure was extended by four meters in 1666. The west part with the portal and door openings are from after theReformation. Hedrum Church has a number of tombstones, which cover large parts of the floor of the church. Hedrum Church cemetery is clearly visible from traffic arteries on both sides ofNumedalslågen. Some of the graves are believed to pre-date the introduction ofChristianity confirming the supposition that ancient pagan cult sites were chosen as the venue for the earlier churches.^[11][12]

While it existed, this municipality was responsible forprimary education (through 10th grade), outpatienthealth services,senior citizen services,unemployment,social services,zoning,economic development, and municipalroads. During its existence, this municipality was governed by amunicipal council ofdirectly elected representatives. Themayor wasindirectly elected by a vote of the municipal council.^[13]

Themunicipal council(Kommunestyre) of Hedrum was made up of representatives that were elected to four year terms. The tables below show the historical composition of the council by politicalparty.

Themayors (Norwegian:ordfører) of Hedrum:^[26]

• List of former municipalities of Norway

• Larvik
• Former municipalities of Norway
• 1838 establishments in Norway
• 1988 disestablishments in Norway

• Pages using gadget WikiMiniAtlas
• CS1 Norwegian-language sources (no)
• Articles with short description
• Short description matches Wikidata
• Articles containing Norwegian-language text
• Coordinates on Wikidata
• Articles containing Old Norse-language text
• Articles containing Bokmål-language text
• Use dmy dates from September 2023