Rud church / Rud kirke, Galten herred, Randers amt.

Rud Church, ab. 10 km south of Randers
Rud sogn, Galten herred, Randers amt.

The small Romanesque church in Rud close to the old cross road between Århus and Randers has been here for almost a thousand years, built in the 1100s. The Romanesque section is in granite ashlars; both doors are preserved, the north door is bricked-up, they both have a carved thympanum, which has a cross on the south door, while the north door has a a winding snake. Three Romanesque windows are in use since 1951, one in the choir and two in the nave. At the gate of the church yard are four Romanesque window cover stones. Several re-buildings have taken place, i.e. in 1722 and 1877-78, where the wall was re-walled in small stones. The bell hangs in a hole in the choir gable. Inside is a beamed ceiling, which was re-newed in 1957.


Relief. Is it Midgårdsormen? ,the huge serpent in Norse mythology.

The lion-font. A lion with a human head.

The altar piece is Renaissance from ab. 1600 with two free pillars, the large field is trigonal with biblical texts; the altar piece was together with the Renaissance-front of the communion table restored in 1947. In the choir hangs a "nådestol" (God with the body of Christ) , the remains of a medieval altar piece, placed upon a plank-rest from a late Medieval monstrans-cupboard (found in the church in 1957). A Romanesque granite font with lion reliefs and carved male heads at the edge of the basin. The pewter baptismal bowl origins from Clausholm slot and has the name of (queen) Anna Sophie. (has been in the church since 1934). The pulpit is from the beginning of the 1600s ; it has double pillars and lion-heads upon the postament-fields and arcade fields with star patterns. At the south wall of the choir is a portrait stone from the end of the 1600s with a secondary inscription from the 1800s. At the church yard a Romanesque roof-shaped grave stone.

Cover stones. "Modern Art" on the church yard.

Rud Church, a typical little Romanesque village church from the 1100s.
Northeast of the church is Anna Sophies kilde, where Anna Sophie Reventlow let fetch water during her stay at Clausholm slot.
Names in the Middle Ages:
Rud kirke (* 1445 Rude sogn); Nielstrup (* 1445 Nielstrop); Bramstrup (*1465 Bramstrup); Hallendrup (* 1428 Hallinndrup); Drostrup Gårde (* 1507 Drostrup); Stobdrup Gårde (1579 Stubdrup); Alstrupgård (*1406 Alstrop gaard).
Listed prehistorics: Two hills, southeast in the parish; one rather large, it is one of the Stobdruphøje, but it has a cistern in the top.

Demolished or destroyed: 21 hills, which mainly were, partly in the southeast section of the parish, and partly around Alstrupgård. A sacrificial finding origins from Alstrupgård from late Bronze Age: two necklaces, a bracelet and 3 spiral rings. Clay-pot graves from early Roman period is known from Alstrupgård, Hallendrup and Nielstrup.
Alstrupgård belonged in 1406 to Essenbæk Kloster (by law). In 1631 Alstrupgård and the mill belonged to Dronningborg, but was laid out by the Crown to Hans Friis of Clausholm in 1661.

In the parish is mentioned the farms Elgård ( 1688 Elgaarden, 1718 Elgaard); Sundhule ( 1688 Sundhuule, 1718 Sandhuul); Kirkegård (1609 Kirckiegardt); and Brændgård ( 1718 Brendgaard), the two last mentioned in Bramstrup.
Source: Trap Danmark, Randers amt, 1963

photo Rud kirke November 2006: grethe bachmann