Ørridslev church / Ørridslev kirke, Voer herred, Skanderborg amt.

Ørridslev church, ab. 10 km northeast of Horsens
Ørridslev sogn, Voer herred, Skanderborg amt.

The church has a Romanesque choir and nave with late Gothic additions: a tower to the west and a porch to the north. The Romanesque building is in well carved and rather small travertine ashlars in size like monk bricks; a few are larger and at the corners are large aslars. The wall work is unusually pretty and regular, and the building must belong to the early travertine churches from the beginning of the 1100s. From original details are the bricked-up south door and three high-placed round arched windows in the nave. Inside is the round choir arch kept. In the last fourth of the 1400s were built vaults, one in the choir, four cross vaults in the nave. Later was added the large porch in two storeys. It has in the north side a flat curved door in point arced mirror, and its top is very face-walled with small stones.



In the Romanesque choir arch were in 1901 found very valuable frescoes from ab. 1125. They are among the oldest in Denmark. All the frescoes have been gently restored by E. Rothe 1902. Upon the late Gothic vaults are light decorations from the building time. A neo Gothic altar piece with a painting from 1867. Altar chalice from 1600s. Candelabres from 1596, given by Niels Grøn in Borup for his parents Jens Grøn's in Hoved and Ane Nielsdatter's burials in the altar floor. A Romanesque granite font with a strange square arcade-decorated basin, probably English inspired. The bowl is a naive copy of the common south German type. The pulpit is a modern joinery with a sounding board from 1619, given by Chresten Frost and Karen Andersdatter for their burial place. A new threemaster church ship. Memorial tablet for"the battle in Sweden between king Chr. IV and King Karl IX 1611." (at Kalmar) put up by the vasal Laves Ebbesøn.



Hovedgård: Johan Gundesen sold 1417 his farm in Hoved to Mikkel Olufsen, whose son Eske Mikkelsen 1453 sold his part of H. to Søren Jensen. His son Niels Sørensen Juul out-bought 1457 his brothers and likewise Mikkel Olufsen's other heirs (1462 is mentioned Oluf Jensen in H:) and his son Søren Juul owned H. ab. 1500. In 1567-90 is mentioned Jens Grøn in H. 1610. Later was H. under Skanderborg Castle. Later owners Trampe, Wormskjold, Secher, Baudissain, Krag-Juel-Vind-Arenfeldt, Nyholm, Winther. 1931 K.A.N.Sejersen & Fru B. Sejersen.

Lars Truedsen conveyed 1340 his estate in Tvingstrup to an altar piece in Århus Cathedral.
Names in the Middle Ages and 1600s:
Ørridslev (* 1336 Øresløff, 1511 Øresloff); Hovedgård (* 1403 Hoffuit marck, * 1417 Hoffuit, 1688 Hoffuidgaarde); Tvingstrup (* 1340 Thwinstorp); Ørskov (1. half of 1300s Ørshkough, 1492 Ørskogh) .

Listed prehistorics: Two hills, Hundshøj at Ørskov Møllegård and Tremhøj southeast of Tvingstrup, where once were a large hill group.
Demolished or destroyed: 43 hills, of which a large part were in the mentioned group at Tvingstrup, others in a smaller group east of Ørskov.

Source: Trap Danmark, Skanderborg amt, 1964.


photo Ørridslev kirke 2002 & 2007: grethe bachmann