Voldby church / Voldby kirke, Djurs Nørre herred, Randers amt.

Voldby Church, ab. 6 km north of Grenå
Voldby sogn, Djurs Nørre herred, Randers amt.

The large white-chalked church consists of a Romanesque nave and the bottom section of a tower and a Gothic longhouse choir, a porch to the south and a sacristy to the north. The Romanesque building and the bottom sections of the nave and the tower are in limestone ashlars, and everything indicates that the two building sections are contemporary. From original details is the walled-in north door. In the southside of the nave west of the porch is a round arched window. In the tower's northwestern corner is a winding staircase, and the original entrance to the church was via the tower room.The walls of the nave were in the Gothic period heightened with monk bricks, and the whole church got cross vaults. Later in the end of the 1400s the large porch was built in granite boulders and monk bricks. In its walls are several various niches. A cross vaulted sacristy was also built in the end of the 1400s on the north side of the choir.


The frescoe of a war ship



Interesting frescoes from the end of the 1400s and the beginning of the 1500s were in 1891 brought to light upon the vaults and walls of the longhouse , among others with the coat of arms of the Århus-bishop Jens Iversen Lange. A remarkable frescoe is a large orlogsskib (war ship) Among the frescoes are strange undefinable motives and figures.

The altar piece is bruskbarok from ab. 1660, and it is placed upon a walled communion table in limestone ashlars. A Romanesque granite font with lion figures of Randers-type. A pulpit from 1666 in same design as the altar piece. In the south door, which is placed in a pointed arch frame, is a pretty, probably late Gothic door wing with heavy ironplates and a large lock in træbul. (woodwork). Two church bells 1) from the Renaissance period 2) from 1724 by Fr. Holtmann.


A lion and a unicorn


Strange figures (click to enlarge)

Navne i middelalder:
Voldby (1404 Waldby, 1468 Valby), Sangstrup (*1359 Sauxstorp, 1433 Sanxtorp); Thorsø (* 1423 Torsyø, 1442 Tharsyø, 1468 Tordsø).

A bank, which probably is a castle bank /motte, is situated in the meadow area Hylket between Karlby and Voldby. It consists of two islets, the southern 33 m diameter, 2 m high, the northern 20 m diameter and 1 m high with a distance between them of 13 m. There are no rests of buildings and the hills seem to be just grovel. There is a legend about pirates.

Listed prehistorics: The longhill Melsækken and the group Thorsø Høje, 6 hills ,of which one is the large Kongehøj on the border to Villersø parish.
Demolished or destroyed: 7 hills, of which 6 were in the Thorsøgroup. West of Voldby was a dolmen chamber.

Source:
Trap Danmark, Randers amt, 1963.


photo Voldby kirke 2003: grethe bachmann