Kálffell

Kálffell (N65°35.26-W15°20.94)

Kálffell was a tenant farm belonging to Foss. The farm stood at an altitude of 440 m beside the mountain of the same name, north of Bunguflói and just north and west of the old road to Vopnafjörður. Although the origins of Kálffell are unclear and the name is somtimes spelled with only one f, sources mention a certain Bjarni Bjarnason as having been born there in 1840. If this is true, Kálffell is among the oldest farms in the moors above Vopnafjörður. For decades, the land was found to be excellent for farming, with broad, uncultivated expanses of grass for haying and good ranges in both summer and winter. In the last decades of the 19th century, however, land quality probably worsened due to erosion. By 1911, the farmstead had been deserted and every remaining building moved away. Today the picturesque farmstead and barn ruins are still present; interestingly, the sheep barn door appear to open towards the slope. The writer Gunnar Gunnarsson purchased Kálffell in 1932, six years after buying the neighboring estate of Arnarvatn.