The farming community at Eiker

In the latter half of the 18th century, most of the farmers on Eiker had become freeholders. A hundred years earlier, they had been tenants, either under the crown estate or on estates belonging to nobility and civil servants. The estate economy on Eiker reached its peak under the governor Hannibal Sehested, who was also the lord of Eker county in the years 1648-1652. When he fell from grace, his large estate was taken over by the Crown. This estate was first mortgaged and later sold to private individuals to cover the state's debt. Thus, most of the old estates disappeared, and the Eiker farmers became owners of the farms they lived on.

Although the farmers were freeholders, most of them were in considerable debt. The creditors were often merchants involved in the lumber trade and sawmill operations in the district. Instead of paying land taxes as tenants, they had to pay interest and installments to the creditors, and in addition many burdensome taxes and fees were paid to the state. In practice, the difference may not have been that great. But at the same time, the new industries opened up new opportunities for the Eiker farmers. A few owned their own sawmills and were directly involved in the lumber trade. Far more were involved in the transport and delivery of goods to sawmills, mines and other industries. Driving for the Magasinet at Kongsberg was important, and coal was burned that was delivered to the Sølvverket, Nøstetangen glassworks, Hassel ironworks and other businesses. Those who managed to take advantage of these opportunities could become debt-free and in some cases set up as owners of several farms.

Not everyone was able to share in the prosperity that the new industries created. The forest at Eiker was being cut down quite a bit, and the authorities introduced restrictions on forestry. It was also not allowed to build new water sawmills that produced for export – that was reserved for the privileged mills, which largely belonged to the bourgeoisie in Drammen.

Most of the farmers could not therefore get directly involved in sawmills and the lumber trade and earn income from this. It happened more and more often that farms were divided in connection with inheritance settlements, because the one who had the land did not have the means to redeem the other heirs. The farms thus became so small that the income from forestry and driving became necessary to survive. This in turn affected agriculture and livestock - the oak farmers were not self-sufficient in either grain for food or hay for animal feed, and they bought butter and cattle for slaughter from the valleys and mountain villages.

Some of the farms at Eiker were sold to merchants who were involved in the lumber trade and sawmill operations in the district. They were often called "proprietærer", and they usually had their own apartment building at Bragernes, where they mostly lived, while the farm at Eiker was a kind of mixture of industrial farm and pleasure farm. The agricultural community at Eiker thus ranged from such wealthy proprietors to small farmers and householders who lived on a subsistence minimum and who were dependent on wage labor to feed their families.