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

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

The church in Søvind has a Romanesque choir and nave with a late Gothic tower to the west and a porch to the south. The Romanesque building is in granite ashlars and few travertines. The straight-edged south door, which is extended, is in use, while all other original wall-openings have disappeared. The choir arch is inside white-washed. In the late Gothic period , after 1500 was in the choir built one, in the nave two octagonal vaults, and at the same time was added a tower in monk bricks. Its bottom room opens to the nave in a circular tower arch and has an eight-ribbed vault. The porch is also from the late Gothic period in raw granite boulder. In the Renaissance period ab. 1600 was the choir gable re-walled, and it has inside two round arched niches.


Søvind, the vicarage

The altar piece is late Baroque with carved biblical figures and a painting from 1723, it was given by major Chr. Carl Müller and wife Anna Lasson. It was together with the pulpit repaired in 1929 .Late Gothic candelabres ab. 1550-75. A Romanesque granite font in simple Renaissance 1575 with panelwork in Baroque from the middle of 1600s. A large two-master church ship, "Søridderen". - Various memorials in the church.

Tyrrestrup, Google Earth

Tyrrestrup belonged in 1438 to Anders Hop. Niels Thomesen (Lange) is written to it in 1492-1501, he probably had got it via his wife Ide Galt, whose brother's son, rigsråd Peder Ebbesen (Galt) (+ 1548) owned it after this. The following owners were the son Mogens Galt (+ unmarried 1575) and his brother Gjord Galt (+ 1591), his widow Regitze Rosenkrantz (+ ab. 1615) and their son Peder Galt, who is written to T. in 1612 and 1624. In 1647 it was occupied by Laxmand Gyldenstierne (+ 1655), whose son Ebbe Gyldenstierne owned it in 1648; in 1667 he had royal allowance to let arrest Herman Stochmann, because he had bought T. but not met the contract, after having left the country 5 years ago he was again in Denmark. Later owners: Pogwisch, Müller, Juul, Søltoft, in 1936 sold by L.P.Horn to Jordlovsudvalget, which broke down the buildings and outparcelled the land, main building and forest were taken over in 1961 by L.P.Horn's children M. and I. Horn. - The present white-washed half-timbered main building is without doubt placed upon Peder Ebbesen Galt's square castle bank.

Owner of Tyrrestrup today: Jens Harder


Peder Galt lived in 1636 in Brigsted. Tyge Puder's widow Ingeborg gave 1397 Vorsø to Horsens kloster.

In a digging in a garden at Ås mark(field) were in 1847 found 863 coins, of which 343 Danish, the rest German, youngest coin from Chr. IV 1629.

In Ås was once a church (mentioned 1524), ab. 20 m long, 10 m broad, which was broken down by Peder Ebbesen Galt (+ 1548), who is said to have used the stones under his main building at Tyrrestrup, now where is nothing to see in the place, but on the place of the old church yard are sometimes found human bones.


Brigsted, at the coast opposite Vorsø

The island Vorsø is now a nature reserve.

In Tyrrestrup Horsehave was found the sacred Skt. Jakobs kilde.

The farm Torupvolde north of Søvind by the road to Gangsted is situated upon a medieval castle bank, whis is especially traceable in the garden south of the living house. The most striking is an earth bank along the east side of the garden, overgrown with large trees. There are several irregular rises in the terrain, both to the south and west is the garden bordered by a large circular , now tree-overgrown bank. In garden have been found monk brick-wall works and pavement.

Names in the Middle Ages and 1600s: Søvind (* 1425 Semuede, * 1426 Siønde, * 1475 Seuindtt kiere, 1544 Seffne); Brigsted (* 1427 Brixsted); Toftum (* 1487 Touttum Marck, * 1492 Tofftum); Ørbæk (1664 Ørbech); Ås ( 1511 Aassz); Tyrrestrup ( 1438 Thyrestropp, 1492 Tyristrop); Humleballegård (ab. 1600 Hummelballe marck).

Listed prehistorics: A somewhat demolished long dolmen at Tyrrestrup, a stone cist in Tyrrestrup forest and 6 hills, of which the large, but somewhat out-digged Grothøj north east of Søvind.
Demolished or destroyed: 5 dolmens and 15 hills. - A settlement from jættestuetid (late Stone Age) is known from Toftum, several settlements from early Roman Iron Age at Ås. Upon Vorsø is a kitchen midden.

Source: Trap Danmark, Skanderborg amt, 1964.


photo Søvind kirke /Brigsted 2004: grethe bachmann