Understed church / Understed kirke, Dronninglund herred, Hjørring amt.

Understed church


interior

Understed church is placed high with deep valleys to the west and north. It has a late Romanesque choir and nave with a Gothic western extension and a porch to the south. The late Romanesque building is in monk bricks, and it is a very pretty representative of the tile-brick group of Vendsyssel. The north side of the choir has corbels shaped like human and animal heads. The north wall of the nave is more simple, it has a trace of two round arched windows. The choir arch is probably extended. In the late Gothic period the building was extended to the west, and both doors were moved to the extension. The walled-in north door in the extension was point arched in a flat curved frame ,while the still used south door is flat curved. The porch is likely late Gothic, but like the whole building it is very re-walled and facing walled in the present.

Vendsyssel's historiske Museum has some reliquaries from a Saint's grave in the communion table. A small altar piece in rich acanthus-Baroque from ab. 1700 origins from Sæbygård's chapel. A late Romanesque Gotland limestone font with curved sepals. A Netherland bowl from the 1700s. A simple pulpit from the 1700s with biblical paintings and a square sounding board and pews from the same time. A church bell from the last half of the 1200s, probably purchased ab. 1675 from another place.


Names in the Middle Ages and 1600s:
Understed (1408 Vndenstædh); Dal (1560 Dalen, 1610 Dall, 1662 Dalbye); Kise ( 1467 Kiess); Hestvang (*1274 Hesteuadtzmølle, *1499 Hestewadtt, 1560 Hestvang); Skibtved (*1493 Skibtved); Fladholt (1465 Flatholt); Klattrup (1560 Klattrup); Vrangbæk (*1484 Vrangbech); Sulbæk (1560 Soelbeck); Vangen ( 1560 Vonger, 1662 Wangen); Kvissel (1610 Quesell);
Holtet (1610 Holted, 1662 Plettis holt); Store and Lille Stensig (1610 Steenns heede); Grene (1662 Grøn, 1688 Grene); Rosengård (1579 Rossengaard); Højerholt (1560 Hogerholt); Nr. and Sdr. Knuden (1408 Knwdn, 1560 Knuden ); Haldbjerg (1610 Halbierig); Tværkær (1560 Tverkier); Gunggård ( 1662 Gunggard); Langvad (1662 Languad); Heden ( *1496 Hene, 1662 Heeden); Knappen (1560 Knappen); Risbjerg ( 1523 Riisberig); Hul (1662 Huolle, 1688 Hollen).
Christen Høg Banner was the owner of Fladholt in 1537, he was married to Abel Thomesdatter Roed, who was married 2) to Torluf Bildt of Hassinggård. Hers and her sister's Anne Thomesdatter Roed's (+ earliest 1568) heirs inherited etstate here after their brother Morten Thomsen Roed of Vårst , who died in 1558 as the last male of his family.

The Crown exchanged Hestvang in 1560 togerther with Sæbygård's other estate to admiral Otte Knudsen Rud of Møgelkær (1565). In 1650 Hestvang was still under Sæbygård, whose ridefoged Knud Thomsen Holst had the farm as lesee for life. Various owners.

A water mill belonged to Hestvang , it is mentioned in 1274 (Hesteuadtzmølle); then it belonged to the estate of Vrejlev Kloster. It was demolished in the beginning of the 1600s, is mentioned in 1674 as desolate and it was possibly placed by a small brook Selbæk, northeast of Hestvanggård.

Understed vicarage burnt down in 1752, new buildings were built; they were used as a vicarage until 1907, when the outbuildings burnt down. The land of the vicarage was being outparcelled and a new vicarage was built in 1908.

In the southwestern part of the parish is in 1662 mentioned a farm Mølgård; in its southern part the farms Skoven ( 1662 Schowen), Underbjerget (1662 Vnder biergit); Kalderdal (1662 Kalderdall) and Linholt ( 1610 Linholt). The farm Knappen was in 1670 named Bedegaard.

According to Pont. Atlas was at the farm Sønder Knuden a castle bank, Slotsbakken, with traces from two drawbridges; the legend says that here was a castle, where the Søhanen (The Sea Cock) Knud of Borg lived. The place to which the name is connected, is situated out to the impressing cliff with a wide view over the seas of Kattegat, but there are no visible traces from fortification or buildings at all.

Listed prehistorics: 2 hills of which most are in groups around Hestvang and western in the parish; 4 of the hills at Hestvang are rather large; there's another large hill at Ravntoft.
Demolished or destroyed: a long dolmen, a long hill and 81 hills. At Understed was found one, at Stendal two stone graves from Iron Age. At Knudegård was found a hængekar ( a jewelry for the belt) and a spearhead from Bronze Age.

At Understed kirke (church) was a Holy spring, still visited ab. 1875.

Source: Trap Danmark, Hjørring amt, 1960.


photo Understed 2004: grethe bachmann