Skallum

Skallum is an area at Stabekk in Bærum, Norway. It was named after the historic estate Skallum (Skallum Gård). It is known locally for its art gallery and as a recreational area, and nationally as the site of an event in the closing days of World War II in Europe.

The area is located north of the commercial centre at Stabekk, but slightly south of Stabekk Primary School and the former college at Ringstabekk. Skallum distinguished from the surrounding area as it forms a small valley, a creek having run here in the past. The creek was a part of the Stabekk Watershed, which originated north of Øvrevoll Galloppbane and ran southwards via Voll, Jar, Jarmyra, Tjernsrud and Ringstabekk. The creek dropped into the valley as a waterfall right after crossing what today is the road Gamle Ringeriksvei. The part of the creek that flowed into the Skallum area was named Skallumbekken. After Skallum it continued (under the name Stabekk) to the southeast, across Stabekk farm and Ballerud, before turning northeast and then south, before reaching its mouth at Holtekilen.

Somewhat north of Skallum farm is found the pond Egerdammen. It is named after a former owner, who most likely created the lake some time before 1900, damming up Skallumbekken. Today, this pond is the only trace of a waterway at Skallum, as most of the Stabekk Watershed has been led underground through a pipe system. The lake is rich on biological life, and has been used as an ice skating rink during the winter.

The name has also been written Skjelme, but both names stem from the same root. The name of the area is taken from the farm Skallum, to which Stabekk is sometimes suffixed (Skallum-Stabekk). Historic spellings of the farm name include Skalmestadbeck (1617); in 1723 Skallum-Stabæk was registered.

The Øverland family then owned the farm between 1685 and 1812. It received a matricule number in 1826, and at that time a horse, two sheep and two cattle were held there. Since 1889 the farm is owned by the Eger family, among others the industrialist Conrad Wilhelm Eger. An adjacent street was named after him a few years before his death.

During the Middle Ages, the farm was owned by Hovedøya Monastery before the Reformation of 1536, and thereafter by the Crown.Skallum was church property until the Protestant Reformation and then became crown property. Most of the farm buildings that exist today were raised in the late 1880s and early 1900s. The manor house, dating from the late 1600s, was extended and received a Swiss style facade in during the 1880s. Since 1982, the former manor house has been used us an art gallery, Galleri Skaugum.

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