Hammershot Stream

Hamarskotslækur, often simply called the Stream, flows below Kinnard Valley, through Hörðuvelli and alongside the Hamar. It is an ideal place to feed the ducks, and the stream is characterised by its unique wildlife and pleasant walking trails.

The doctor's recordings

The stream has its source in two branches. One of them is called Kaplakrikalæk and flows from Urriðakotsvatn along the southern edge of Garðahraun through Kaplakriki, then alongside the Reykjanesbraut in the western part of the Setbergshverfi, where it is then called Setbergslækur. The other branch rises in Lækjarbotnar, south of Stekkjarhraun, flows northwards along the lava field and joins Setbergslækur in Þverlækur, south of Setbergsskóli, from then on being called Hamarskotslækur.

Hörðuvallastífla

The stream was dammed at Brekkan, below Hamrinn, when the carpenter Jóhannes Reykdal harnessed it to generate electricity for 15 houses and erected the first power station in Iceland for public use in 1904. Later, the Hörðuvallastöð dam was built further upstream in the stream, where the Freemasons' Hall now stands. A larger power station was built there in 1906 to power Reykdal's woodworking machines and to light the houses in the town. The Hörðuvallastöðin is considered the oldest independent power station in the country. An icehouse was also established by the dam, which utilised the ice from the stream before the advent of deep-freeze warehouses.