The Herregård Pond

We are standing outside the area where the Herregård Pond used to be. It was a paradise where small children could play and, since Thor was able to borrow the key to the gate from his father, the pond provided the otherwise shy boy with a chance of becoming popular. A dramatic event also occurred at the pond which would affect the young man for many years and caused the internationally renowned seafarer to be afraid of water for a long time to come. He also suffered from a fear of heights and of the dark. One cause of his fear of water was a dramatic episode at the pond located here. One winter’s day, Thor managed to get hold of the key and let the children next door into the icy paradise. The pond froze over in the winter. The eldest boys were showing off by jumping onto loose blocks of ice. Thor was also drawn in and wanted to show he was brave enough too. The ice block ended up tipping over and the boy disappeared into the ice-cold water and he got into difficulties coming back up. He lost his sense of direction and panicked, hitting his head on the ice. It could have gone badly wrong if a couple of the older jumpers hadn’t managed to get hold of the boy’s wriggling pitch-seam boots and drag him back to dry land, more dead than alive. The experience had a big effect on Thor Heyerdahl while he was growing up and he kept well away from anything wet for a long time. The Herregård Pond has also given its name to the road between Herregårdsbakken and Kristian Fredriksvei where we are now standing. It was called Damveien. Gyldenløve had the pond made to create enough water pressure for the fountains in the gardens at the manor house. The pond was also called “Slusa” as the level of the water was regulated using a lock. It drained out into a stony stream downwards through the gardens along the manor house, over the so-called Alleløkka and out to Karistranda Beach. The breweries in Larvik, including Thor Heyerdahl’s father, collected ice from the pond and it enabled them to sell cold beer in the summer. It was used for a lot of other things as well. The public witnessed a spectacular figure skating show at the pond in 1894, with Axe Paulsen and his brother Edvin. The pond was filled in 1933. The house at the end of Herregårdsbakken has an interesting story as well. It belongs to the Trøim family today, but Police Chief F. T. Salicath (1847-1911) lived there in 1902. He had plenty of work to do when the hotel at the corner of Storgata – Thaulowsvingen burnt down in 1903. A 15 year-old girl died in the fire and the populace believed that the police chief’s behaviour towards the victims of the fire led to the riots which followed. Several hundred angry citizens marched up Herregårdsbakken and surrounded the police chief’s home for two days. They threw stones at the windows, pulled stakes off the fence and used them as weapons, pulled the police chief’s gate off and threw it through the window, stormed in and went up to the second floor to get him. The police chief was waiting with a revolver and threatened to shoot the first person to cross the threshold. The mob had no idea that he hadn’t managed to find bullets for the revolver in the dark but, faced with the weapon, they retreated to the street and trooped on to the police station, walked into the station and freed four of their comrades from arrest. The riots went on for several days and the army was eventually brought in to calm the situation down. Salicath was granted a leave of absence and disappeared from the town a short time afterwards. From here we continue the tour to the east, over to Kristian Fredriksvei and down to the brick building which was the high tower of learning in Heyerdahl’s time, Larvik High School.