Among other things, several burial mounds from the Viking Age and Stone Age tools have been found in the area.
Location
The good harbour that ends in a large sandy beach, as well as a convenient location for access to the fishing grounds, make it natural to assume that Brettesnes was used as a settlement early on.
The origin of the name is not entirely clear, but it is believed that it is connected to the mountain Bretten that rises just behind the settlement at Brettesnes.
Reliable historical information about the development at Brettesnes is not available until the 1800s. However, it has been established that the first yacht skipper lived in Brettesnes around the 1600s, and that in 1770 an inn was run on the site.
From the mid-1800s, Brettesnes was a large farm. Borkvika, Fremnesvika and Gullvika were smallholdings associated with this and had a duty to work on the goose farm. Around the south-facing harbour, the buildings are scattered and roughly in horseshoe shape. Brettesnes currently has only a few permanent residents.
Boat route Brettesnes-Bergen-Newcastle
At the turn of the last century, a ship operated on a regular route between Brettesnes – Bergen – Newcastle.
Several hundred people were associated with the herring oil industry in Brettesnes, and the place was an important trading post in Lofoten.
English School
Brettesnes had an English school and along the narrow roads, the ladies of the place walked in the latest fashion from Paris, this in stark contrast to the small fishing village of Svolvær, which was not as central and international as Brettesnes.
The factory at Brettesnes
However, what has meant the most to the place right up to the present day, and which one cannot avoid mentioning when talking about Brettesnes, is the establishment of a guano factory in 1872.
The factory was planned and built by Englishmen, and the company was called “The Allright Guano Co Limited”.
The first factory burned down in 1877, but was rebuilt in 1878 in stone transported all the way from England. The first factory in Norway for the production of herring meal and herring oil was started at Brettesnes in 1884. Initially, the focus was on herring oil and herring meal, but the business was gradually expanded to include the processing of cod liver for cod liver oil.
The oil was initially used for light and fuel, but from the 1890s herring meal was also produced. Around the time of the First World War, Nordland was the leading county with almost half of the factories in the country. Nordland had 12 factories, Troms and Finnmark six factories and the other counties 17 factories. Towards the end of the 1900s, the factory began to have serious problems, and in 1990 it was the end of an era that had lasted for over a hundred years.
You can see that the factory has meant a lot to the place.
Brettesnes has also been important as a fishing village.
Good harbour conditions and a short distance to the fishing grounds meant that especially small boats have used Brettesnes as a base during the Lofoten fishery.
Photo: Old postcards
Source: Wikipedia
