Bonnstan, Skellefteå

Bonnstan is an area of 116 church cottages located just east of the parish church in Skellefteå. Bonnstan, together with the country church and Lejonströmsbron, among others, is included in the national interest site "Skellefteå parish centre" with the justification "Skellefteå parish centre, church town and market place on the old coastal road, which tells of the importance of the site for the ecclesiastical, social and commercial life of the district since the Middle Ages". Bonnstan has been a listed building since 1982.

One of the oldest known descriptions of Bonnstan is given by Carl von Linné when he describes his visit to Skellefteå in 1732: inwid kyrkian Siällefte, en oräknerlig hoop af huus, liksom en artig stad, med hwita chimneys, bygd uthi 2:ne gator, med tvärgator bestående af 350 à 400 huus. They told me that every farmer in the parish had his house, in which he stayed on feast days.

When the first church town in Skellefteå arose is not documented, but it probably existed in the early 17th century. It has been burnt down several times; the first time in 1672 and the second time in 1835. Then it was completely destroyed. The new church town was then built on almost the same site around the road, but a little further from the parish church. In 1937, a major fire burned down a dozen houses northwest of the square. After this, houses north of the thoroughfare were moved to restore the overall impression. Bonnstan also included an area to the north with church pews, but most of these have burnt down or been demolished. In 1970 a house burnt down. In the most recent fire on 27 October 2012, two houses containing 16 chambers burned down, but the emergency services managed to save surrounding houses from other than minor damage.