LORIEN, Burnt Forest, Uasin Gishu

 By Barmoiben Kipkeemoi Araap Korir



Barmoiben Kipkemoi Araap Korir

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LORIEN

How did this place get a Norwegian name?

In the same vicinity as Bayete and Bindura is another non local name, Lorien

So what is the origin and meaning of the name Lorien?

To get an answer, we have to go a few miles across to a school called Arnenes

Ole Christian Greiner Arnesen, after whom Arnesens School is named was a lumberjack in the region in the 1920s.

He hauled massive logs from forests around and set up a sawmilling factory and named it Lorien Sawmillers.

Lorien is the name of the three-masted sailing ship named "Loth Loriën" that brought Arnesen to Mombasa.

The region later took the name.

Lorien Saw Mills, became well known in colonial Kenya and beyond. In Norway cedar from Lorient Sawmillers fetched premium prices. 


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