The village museum Húsini við Brunn

The Village Museum

The oldest part of the dwelling house við Brunn is the roykstova, a smoke room with an open hearth, built from driftwood in the late 17th century. The eastern part of the house was constructed by Gamli Jáki in 1828 from a single log purchased at an auction from the ship of Saksun, “Saksunarskipið.” This ship had been loaded with Pomeranian pine, and the timber was washed ashore at Saksun. It took Gamli Jáki 18 hours to tow the log to Nólsoy. He also added a cowshed, now gone, to the eastern part of the house.

It is said that when King Frederik VIII of Denmark visited Nólsoy in 1907, he wanted to see a byre and was invited to Brunn, as it was considered the best byre in the village.

An indication that the house við Brunn was one of the better homes in the village is that when guests arrived, they often asked to stay there. Their request was always granted, and they were invited into the parlour through the upper door.

The farmers of Brunn owned their land under the “allodial” system, where land was divided among heirs upon the owner’s death. However, to keep the farm holdings of a reasonable size, plots were often bought back from the beneficiaries. Several farmers were skilled craftsmen, and the last but one at við Brunn was known as bøkjarin, the cooper. Besides the dwelling house with its cowshed, there were many outhouses such as kvarnarhús, hoyggjhús, torvhús, hjallur, and neyst, used for various activities including cultivation, sheep farming, fishing, peat cutting, and wildfowling.

The same family has lived at Brunn for more than 300 years.