Iron played a key role in the region and nowhere is this more apparent than at Osterbybruk. It is the area’s oldest ironworks, dating back to the fifteenth century, but things only really took off when Kutchman Louis de Geer bought the foundry in 1643. With the help of migrant Walloon blacksmith, he developed the iron industry so crucial to Sweden’s position as a great power.

As the world’s only fully preserved Walloon forge, the fifteenth century Vallonsmedjan uses puppets, sound and light to recreate life in the hammer mills. Around it are charming eighteenth and nineteenth century streets.

The eighteenth century manor house was home to wildlife painter Bruno Liljefors in the early twentieth century. In summer, his popular animal paintings are exhibited in Liljeforsateljen in the gardens.