Solatunum

Solatunum, later called Sollefteå, lies by the lowest great rapid of the Ångerman River. Here the route along the river met the road from the coast, amid fertile valley land and rich salmon waters. The name appears in a boundary record from the late thirteenth century, and by 1314 its church was among the most substantial in Ångermanland by the tax it paid.

In 1337 the wealthy Gudlav Bilder gave land to churches in several parishes, including Sollefteå, and also endowed salmon fisheries elsewhere. Such gifts reveal both the resources of the river valley and the ties of its leading families to the Church. In 1602 the burghers of Härnösand designated Sollefteå a market place for their inland trade. Ironworks were established in the wider district during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, adding another livelihood to the river country.