Hover church /Hover kirke, Hind herred, Ringkøbing amt.

Hover Church, ab. 12 km northeast of Ringkøbing  
Hover sogn, Hind Herred, Ringkøbing amt.

The small church in Hover is often referred to as an almost unchanged Romanesque village church. The Romanesque building is built in granite ashlars, the south door is in use with decorations in the frame and a straight-edged cover stone. The bricked-up north door is also straight-edged and placed longer to the west than the south door. The choir has one window to the north, the nave two small round arched windows in use, while one in the south side of the nave is bricked-up as an inside niche. The inside of the church has ashlar walls and beamed ceilings, the choir arch has profiled kragbånd. The western gable of the nave was after a storm in 1771 re-walled and is supported by a heavy pillar. The white-washed porch at the south side is in ashlars and monk bricks, and the heavy walls indicate that it belongs to the reformation-period.


Upon the triumph wall are funny frescoes from the late 1500s, restored in 1910. The original communion table is walled in ashlars. A simple altarpiece with rests of a Renaissance altarpiece. Baroque brass-candelabres ab. 1650. Late Gothic priest- and parish clerk stool with large crucifers upon the gables. Upon the priest chair a Renaissance gable. A Romanesque granite font with arcade and rope ornamentation and rests of old paint. South German bowl from ab. 1575. Upon a pew gable a picture of a crossbow and the year 1575, the other pews are from 1930. A heavy, iron bound, probably late medieval church coffin. The small bell ,which hangs high upon the east gable, is probably late Gothic.


Hover Å

Names in the Middle Ages and 1600s:
Hover (1330-48 Houer); Muldbjerg (1449 Mulberg); Tovstrup (1618 Thoustrup); Kirkegårde (1610 Wed Kiercken); Hover Gårde (*1494 Hoffuergaard); Hjelm (1610 Hielmb); Tarp ( 1610 Taarp); Hoverdal (* 1473 Hoffuerdall); Hedegård (1610 Hiede); Vadstrup (1610 Wastruf); Gade (1664 Gaade).

In Muldbjerg is in 1533 mentioned Laurids Jensen, who probably was of nobility.

In 1578 is mentioned Ove Skram of Hovergård. In 1688 it was under Voldbjerg.

In the parish was a village Vesterby (1624 Westerbye), which in 1688 had 4 farms. Furthermore a farm Næsthusgård (1483 Nesthusgaard.)

Listed prehistorics: 39 hills, and the longhill Muldhøj at Muldbjerg. This last mentioned, which is 41 m long and 4 m high, is formed by a connection of two round hills. Here was in 1883 found an oak coffin from early Bronze Age with a well-preserved male dress, cape, shirt, cap and a sword, from the unburned body were only left hair and nails. To the west in the parish are Kvindhøjene, 7 hills of which one is rather large. It connects to the hills at Bratbjerg in Hee parish. North of Hover Church is a pretty group pf 3 hills (and 5 over-ploughed). In Omme bakker are 5 Ravnsbjerg hills.
Demolished or destroyed: 47 hills. In a hill at Tovstrup were found a war axe and 3 pretty clay vessels from dyssetid. (dysse=dolmen) In a document from 1808 is mentioned that there was a "jyndown" (=dolmen) probably at Hjelm.

Source: Trap Danmark, Ringkøbing amt, 1965.


One-man-car at Hover Church


Photo Hover kirke 2003/2006: grethe bachmann