Utstein cultural environment

The farm was designated as a protected cultural environment in 1999, because Utstein represents a particular national value with the sum of cultural history, landscape and agricultural elements that give the area its distinctive character. This includes the overall characteristics of the cultural environment, important individual elements and the context between these elements. The Utstein cultural environment was the second cultural environment to be protected at the national level.

The Utstein cultural environment covers approx. 2,500 decares (2.5 km2), and covers all of Klosterøy, Klostervågen bay, Fjøløysundet sound and the northern part of Fjøløy. The protection also includes a zone in the sea outside the protected land area, out to a maximum distance of approx. 220 metres from land. The purpose of the protection is to secure and preserve a unique cultural environment dominated by pasture lands near Utstein Monastery that have particular national value because of the cultural history, landscape and agricultural elements that intersect to give the area its distinctive character. The protection will prevent developments in the area and ensure that a nationally important cultural landscape can be preserved. However, the protection does not prevent agricultural operations. This means that, as the landowners, we have a statutory right to cultivate the land in the area for perpetuity.

Klosterøy is different from the coastal and island landscape of the rest of the Ryfylke region in particular and Norway in general. It features fields, cultivated pastures and crop land with soft, rounded terrain, all of which contribute to the area’s distinctive character. The landscape is relatively flat and rises steadily to the three peaks; Rabnafjell, Knebersfjell and Byrefjell. Despite it being privately owned and use of the cultural landscape being reserved for animal husbandry and farming, it is still one of the most open farms in Norway. The view from the sea is free and unobstructed toward the fields, ridges and peaks. All parts of the farm are visible from the sea.

The Utstein cultural environment also includes a coastal cultural environment, as the protection also covers activity in Klostervågen bay and Fjøløysundet sound. Large parts of the sea areas north and west of Klosterøy are marked indicating that anchorage, diving, fishing and use of bottom fishing rigs is prohibited. Some of this also applies for the parts of the protected area that are in the sea, for example the approach to Klostervågen bay.

The term cultural landscape normally refers to landscapes shaped by human lives and activities; the cultivated landscape, landscapes that have been farmed and used for agricultural purposes. Cultural landscapes can also include highlands and pasture lands, coastal landscapes, as well as urban and other densely populated landscapes. The common feature for all cultural landscapes is that they have a connection to the human element in one way or another.

The term cultural environment now has its own definition in the Cultural Heritage Act and concerns both structural environments and cultural landscapes. Cultural environment is a term that was first used as recently as in the 1990s, and which encompasses landscapes and cultural monuments viewed in context. Cultural monuments and cultural environments are non-renewable resources. If they are removed or damaged, significant contributions to historical knowledge and understanding could be destroyed forever. These values should therefore be protected for future generations. Throughout the ages, cautious and prudent agriculture and cultivation of soil over time has preserved biodiversity and the cultural landscape, which makes the cultural environment out here so distinctive.

The expression ‘protection through use’ is highly relevant at Utstein. From generation to generation on the farm, we have accumulated and passed on expertise on how to best preserve and develop the values in the area alongside a sustainable economy. The use is the foundation of the actual regulation to protect Utstein, and use provides the best protection.

The protected area also includes a number of buildings with high value from a cultural history perspective. The most eye-catching are the monastery buildings, of course. The monastery plays an important role in the landscape. Its intrinsic value and location in a rich and beautiful cultural landscape dominated by pasture lands provides an additional dimension in experiencing the environment. However, the monastery buildings are not at the centre of the regulation to protect the Utstein cultural environment, as the buildings are from the Middle Ages and therefore automatically protected. The key goal of the protection was to preserve the landscape around the monastery.

From a nature perspective, the natural conditions are well-suited for agriculture and pastures here at Utstein. The owners of Utstein have been good stewards of these conditions for hundreds of years. The work of previous generations has given the landscape its unique beauty and value. It’s even more important that cautious and prudent agriculture has been able to preserve values within both biology and cultural history. From this perspective, the area is both unique and distinctive. The area features permanent and visible cultural monuments from multiple time periods. A few loose finds have also been made. The oldest traces of humans within the Utstein cultural environment are two loose finds from the Stone Age. These finds show that there has been activity in the area ever since then. However, most finds are from the Iron Age, including 120 graves at Bakkhodnet. A number of traces of the past can be found in the area, particularly linked to agricultural activity. There are also several tombstones, field clearing piles, house ruins and stone walls dating from before the Reformation. Finds from the Viking Age have also been made at Utstein Farm, as recently as in February 2021.

The protection area also features several important wetland areas for birds. A number of very rare plant varieties have also been registered here. Some of them are the descendants of the plants the monastery monks used for medicine. Among other things, you can find sycamore, cartilage lichen and the fruticose lichen Ramalina fastigiate, which grows on sycamore, the mosses Pleuridium subulatum and Syntrichia papillosa, the lichen Physcia leptalea, common mallow, common polypody and little hogweed. Some of these species, which are highly valuable, are allegedly found in the actual Monastery Garden. Georg Christian Oeder (1727–1791), physician, botanist and economist, described the farming at Utstein Monastery in 1758, when Christopher Garmann ran the family farm. Illustrations were then made of plants on the farm, which became the motif for the famous botany atlas and dinner set Flora Danica. You can see these plants on display at Utstein Monastery today.

Several literary works describe Utstein and the cultural environment and landscape around the monastery. Among others, Alfred Hauge wrote the Utstein Monastery literary cycle; 5 novels and 2 collections of poems about or inspired by Utstein.

Freely rendered from various sources on the Utstein cultural environment.