Våle is a former municipality in Vestfold county, Norway. The 82 km2 municipality existed from 1838 until its dissolution in 2002. The area is now part of Tønsberg Municipality. The administrative centre was the village of Kirkevoll (it was at Sørby prior to 1990). Other villages in the rural, agricultural municipality included: Brekkeåsen, Rånerudåsen, Svinevoll, Sørby, and Gretteåsen. The famous Jarlsberg cheese first was produced in Våle. The medieval Våle Church was the main church for the municipality.

General information

The parish of Vaale 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. In 1947, a small area of Botne Municipality (population: 8) was transferred to Våle. On 1 January 2002, Våle Municipality was merged with the neighboring Ramnes 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 Vaale farm since the first Våle Church was built there. The name is the plural form of the word váll which means "clearing in the woods". On 21 December 1917, a royal resolution enacted the 1917 Norwegian language reforms. Prior to this change, the name was spelled Vaale with the digraph "aa", and after this reform, the name was spelled Våle, using the letter å instead.

Coat of arms

The coat of arms was granted on 23 February 1990. The official blazon is "Vert, a mistletoe branch Or". This means the arms have a green field (background) and the charge is a branch of mistletoe. The charge has a tincture of Or which means it is commonly colored yellow, but if it is made out of metal, then gold is used. The mistletoe plant is very rare in Norway, but can be found in Våle. It is known from Norse mythology because Höðr shot a mistletoe arrow that killed the god Baldr. He was later avenged by his brother Váli (which sounds like Våle). The color green refers to agriculture and forestry. The arms were designed by Stein Davidsen. The municipal flag has the same design as the coat of arms.

Churches

The Church of Norway had two parishes (sokn) within the municipality of Våle. It was part of the Nord-Jarlsberg prosti (deanery) in the Diocese of Tunsberg.

Government

While it existed, Våle 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 of Våle:

Municipal council

The municipal council (Kommunestyre) of Våle 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.

Notable people