Norwegian Millstone Centre

Nearly 400 quarries are identified in Hyllestad. The production of quernstones dates to the Viking Age, c. 800s, and continued up to more recent times, and represents an approx. 1200 years old industrial history. At approx. 1000 AD, the range of product types was expanded with millstones for watermills and stone crosses as new products. The large-scale production has since Viking times led to sever changes of the landscape. Quernstones and millstones were shaped and carved directly from the bedrock, and in several of the quarries unfinished products are still attached to the rock. Quarries and spoil heaps are so densely situated that the original topography is not visible anymore. Production was based on sale and profit, and in the Viking Age and the Middle Ages, quernstones were distributed to several Nordic countries.

Millstone Park has been established within the production landscape, as an area of dissemination of the history of production. A culture trail has been made through the park where quarries, quernstones, millstones and spoil heaps are densely located. An activity arena with houses and equipment is located here, whereby visitors can observe and try stone cutting, working at the forge, using hand querns and the like.