Ramnes is a former municipality in Vestfold county, Norway. The 138-square-kilometre (53 sq mi) municipality existed from 1838 until its dissolution in 2002. The area is now part of Tønsberg Municipality. The administrative centre was the village of Ramnes (sometimes called Tingvoll). Other villages in Ramnes included Vivestad, Fon, Bergsåsen, and Linnestad.

General information

The parish of Ramnes was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt law). On 16 July 1873, a royal resolution approved transferring an uninhabited area of Vaale Municipality to the neighboring Ramnes Municipality. On 1 January 2002, Ramnes Municipality was merged with the neighboring Våle Municipality to form the new Re Municipality. Re Municipality became part of Tønsberg Municipality on 1 January 2020.

Name

The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the old Ramnes farm (Old Norse: Rafnnes) since the first Ramnes Church was built there. The first element is hrafn which means "raven". The last element is nes which means "headland", which is likely referring to the area between two rivers.

Coat of arms

The coat of arms was granted on 30 January 1976. The official blazon is "Argent, a raven passant wings elevated sable" (Norwegian: I sølv en svart ravn). This means the arms have a field (background) has a tincture of argent which means it is commonly colored white, but if it is made out of metal, then silver is used. The charge is a raven passant with its wings elevated. They are canting arms since the name of the municipality is derived from the word "raven". The arms were designed by Sven Sköld. The municipal flag has the same design as the coat of arms.

Churches

The Church of Norway had three parishes (sokn) within the municipality of Ramnes. It is part of the Nord-Jarlsberg prosti (deanery) in the Diocese of Tunsberg.

Churches in Ramnes

Parish (sokn)	Church name	Location of the church	Year built
Fon	Fon Church	Fon	c. 1100
Ramnes	Ramnes Church	Ramnes	c. 1100
Vivestad	Vivestad Church	Vivestad	1914

Government

Ramnes Municipality was responsible for primary education (through 10th grade), outpatient health services, senior citizen services, unemployment, social services, zoning, economic development, and municipal roads. During its existence, this municipality was governed by a municipal council of directly elected representatives. The mayor was indirectly elected by a vote of the municipal council. The municipality was under the jurisdiction of the Horten District Court and the Agder Court of Appeal.

Mayors

The mayors (Norwegian: ordfører) of Ramnes:

Municipal council

The municipal council (Kommunestyre) of Ramnes was made up of 25 representatives that were elected to four year terms. The tables below show the historical composition of the council by political party.

Geography

The landscape of Ramnes is dominated by the wide valleys of the river Aulielva. Around the village of Ramnes, the valley widens out into a large, cultivated plain known as Ramnessletta. Between the larger and smaller valley which generally run north-south are low, wooded hills. The hills are sparely covered with grass and trees, exposing weathered soil. The valleys are filled with a rich clay that is used for agriculture.

See also

• List of former municipalities of Norway