Torshälla () is a locality situated in Eskilstuna Municipality, Södermanland County, Sweden with 7,612 inhabitants in 2010. It is mainly known for steel manufacturing, centered on the Nyby Bruk steel mill, and also for its historic old town centre. Because of its historic town status, from 1317 to 1971, Torshälla is customarily referred to as a stad (town or city) even though it does not have a population of 10,000, which is the limit presently in use defined by Statistics Sweden. Before the local government reform of 1971 Torshälla was an independent municipality. A new proposal to detach Torshälla from Eskilstuna Municipality was turned down in a referendum in 2006. History Foundation and early history Torshälla is one of the oldest towns in Sweden and received city rights as early as 1317 from King Birger. The oldest part of the town church is from the 12th century; however, the church was likely built on top of, or close to, the site of an earlier Old Norse holy place, where the god Thor was worshipped during the Viking Age. The name Torshälla stems from Þors harg, which means "place for sacrificing to Thor". The town is located at Eskilstunaån's very first rapids upstream of Lake Mälaren, creating a natural trading and reloading site. Several archeological digs have uncovered remains of two (possibly three) "strong houses", that is, small fortresses or castles, the one on Husberget next to the rapids dating from around 1300 AD. The fortification on Husberget was burned to the ground during the late 14th century. In 1436, during the aftermath of the Engelbrekt Rebellion, Torshälla was plundered by the forces of Lord High Constable of Sweden (later King) Karl Knutsson Bonde, due to siding with the local nobleman Erik Puke's uprising. Torshälla was during the Middle Ages the dominant trading town in Rekarne, the northwestern part of Södermanland County, which roughly corresponds to present day Eskilstuna Municipality. After neighbouring Eskilstuna was granted town rights in 1659, Torshälla lost in relative importance due to the rapid growth of industry and trade in Eskilstuna, the building of a canal bypassing the rapids in Torshälla, and the great fire which devastated Torshälla in 1798. Industrial era The development of Torshälla during the 19th and 20th centuries was greatly influenced by the foundation of an ironworks on the lands of Nyby manor house on the western outskirts of Torshälla. The Nyby Bruk