Tingvoll municipality in Norway has approximately 3.150 inhabitants and covers a area of 336,9 km2. Tingvoll community has a varied shoreline of fully 163 kilometres and a tourist-friendly landscape in summer as well as winter. There are good fishing opportunities both in the sea and in freshwater lakes.

In Tingvoll we find the northernmost oak forest in the world. The municipality of Tingvoll is best known for its medieval stone church from ca. 1180. The church is called “The Cathedral of Nordmøre” and is among the most beautiful of its kind. It is constructed in Romanesque style and has thick walls containing inside passages. The church hosts various cultural events throughout summer.

Other sights of interest include a very active and versatile local museum, 5,000-year-old Petroglyphs at Hindhammer, stone monuments from the Viking Age at Aspa, and The Norwegian Centre for Ecological Agriculture. In the community there are, among other things, long traditions in boat building, craft and textiles. A hundred years of living industrial textile traditions we find today at Sellgrens Veveri”” (weaving mill).

KRAFTKAR

The cheese “Kraftkar” from Tingvollost at Torjulvågen is crowned the best cheese in the world, writes the organizer The Guild of Fine Food in a statement.

TINGVOLL CHURCH

Is a stone church in the Romantic and Gothic style that was built over 800 years ago. In the walls of the church there is an extensive system of corridors, unique for an ecclesiastic building in the Nordic region. The interior is rich. The pulpit is late Renaissance with figures in distinctive Spanish Baroque style. The altarpiece and “epitaphium” are carved in Baroque style. The churchyard has been selected as the district’s millennium site, as a recognition that the area has been an important gathering place through the ages.

SCANDINAVIAs LARGEST STONE PAINTING AREA

Honnhammer, lies 7 km East of Tingvoll centre. They are from the late Stone Age, and are at least 4000 years old. The drawings belong to an exclusive group of stone art that is painted (drawn) on mountainsides and in caves, which is very rare. Our stone paintings show drawings of elk, reindeer and salmon.

GRAVEMOUND

The grave mounds at Røttingsnes Head are the largest find of grave mounds in Tingvoll. The graves, which were excavated in 1910 by the archaeologist Karl Rygh, are from about 800 AD. Rygh investigated 8 gravesites in all. Røttingsnes is also the only Stone Age settlement we know of in Tingvoll from the late Stone Age (about 2000 years BC). The settlement was discovered during new clearance work in 1922.

BAUT STONES

There are three “Baut” Stones on Aspa. One stone is about 6 metres high whilst two are a little lower. We do not know the function or purpose of the “Baut” (old Norse for “strike” or “support”) stones, which probably date from before Christ, but they were probably used in some religious worship or other. In 1977 the Baut Stones were chosen as Tingvoll District’s cultural relics. Close to the Baut Stones are grave mounds that probably date from the Iron Age, 500-1000 years AC.

OAK in TINGVOLL

Boksaspa and Eikrem in Tingvoll have the world´s northernmost large stands of oak. The name Eikrem is probably 1500-2000 years old, and perhaps the northernmost place name in Norway that starts with “eik” (Norwegian for “oak”). The oak came to Norway at least 8000 years ago and reached its greatest distribution in the late Stone Age and Bronze Age. So today’s oak forest may have been in Tingvoll for many thousands of years and because of that it is not surprising that we have 5 oak leaves in Tingvoll’s district coat of arms.

TINGVOLL MUSEUM

A detour up from the trunk road takes you to the museum. The grounds used to be part of an old farm, Lia, commonly known as Tingvollia – or the Tingvoll Hill. Tingvoll Village museum is a unique, hands-on museum whose guiding principle is certainly not “look, but don’t touch”. Quite to the contrary. This is a place where you’ve invited to visualise and re-create history, and the range of activities in the summer is extensive:

How do you light a fire without matches or a lighter? How do you handle fire and iron in the old smiddy? How do you use bullets and gunpowder the old way etc. A tour of the muesum will take you round the sawmill (water-operated), the mill, the schoolhouse and the council chambers, the smiddy, the food store and the shop, and will present you with tools of every kind…

STRAUMSNES TOWN MUSEUM

The museum was established in 1921 by the folklore researcher and teacher Edvard Langset (1867 – 1924), and houses his collection of historical items. The museum building, “Minna” is at Grimstad in Straumsnes. The museum owns the old croft “Haugen” and six old buildings have been moved later to Haugen including a cowshed with a grain loft, a small forge and “eldhus” (lit. “fire house” used for baking, brewing and laundry), a “stabbur” (traditional storehouse on pillars) and a priest house. The museum has a considerable collection of textiles and the museum has preserved the old “Strømsnesset´s Common Book Collection” which contains 800 valuable old books. The museum has various events in the summer and it is possible to arrange a tour.

ÅRSUND ISLAND

Idyllic Årsundøy Island and its neighbouring island Langøya. There is proof of habitation right back to the Stone Age through finds of tools and objects. Today there is one farm with 5 permanent human inhabitants. During the Second World War it was the Germans’ turn to occupy the island. One of their constructions was Årsundøya coastal artillery fort. Tours can be arranged.

The Norwegian Centre for Ecological Agriculture (NORSØK) is a research institute and a national centre of skills for ecological agriculture situated on Tingvoll Estate in the Tingvollvåg Bay. NORSØK was established in 1987. Today the institute has 28 employees who work with research, development and skills in ecological agriculture. The operation is built on finances from the Norwegian Research Council. Tours can be arranged.

FISHING

The fjord and the many lakes and rivers give plenty of opportunities for fishing. Many of the mountain lakes are also ideal for fishing, but fishing in the fjord is always the safest way to get fish on the hook. A good advice is to ask local fishermen where to fish and what bate to use.

Remember that in order to fish in the most popular rivers and lakes, you need to purchase a fishing card. When fishing in lakes where purchasing a fishing card is not necessary, ask the landowner for permission first.