Hjorthede church/ Hjorthede kirke, Middelsom herred, Viborg amt.

Hjorthede church, ab. 17 km east of Viborg.

Hjorthede parish, Middelsom herred, Viborg amt.

Hjorthede church is a Romanesque boulder building with choir and nave and a porch to the south, which was rebuilt in 1883. The choir and the eastern section of the nave are in ashlars upon a bevelled plinth. The western section of the nave is in raw field stones. Both original doors with smooth boulder frames are kept. The north door is bricked-up. Upon the northside trace of two Romanesque windows. The triangle gable of the choir was later taken down and rebuilt in bricks, like the western gable of the nave in present time was rebricked from the basis. Inside the church is a beamed ceilin, the choir arch with profiled kragsten is kept.


Upon the bricked communion table stands a late Renaissance altarpiece with carved year 1623,  in two storeys, where the main field has Baroque-looking sidewings with openwork arcades. The top piece, which is sawed off, shows that the altarpiece must be made for another church room - it was said to come here to Hjorthede ab. 1770 from Ulstrup castle chapel (with rests of coat of arms for Kaas and Skeel). In the main field a newer copy of a C. Bloch-painting. A Romanesque granite font. A simple pulpit, probably from the late 1800s. Between nave and porch is an iron bound door wing. In the south wall of the porch is inserted a gravestone in granite for Peder Sørensen, died at Himmestrup in 1721. In the choir inserted two large gravestones, brought up in 1955 from the floor of the nave, for Povl Sørensen in Ulstrup (+ 1610), and for Chresten Sørensen (+ 1649). The bell is in a bell frame at the church yard, it has a minuskel inscription and   was cast 1473. (New decorations see below)


Kællinghøl,  in the 1500s and 1600s was also called Hølingsholm,was earlier a main farm. In 1486 it was owned by Henning Hansen, later by the brothers Erik and Ove Hase, the last mentioned's son Elef Hase sold in 1501 his inherited part in K. to hr. Erik Ottesen Rosenkrantz of Skjern. His daughter's son rigsråd Knud Rud (+ 1554), owned it in 1524; in 1557 it belonged to his daughter Kirsten Rud (+ 1612). She was married 1) to Jørgen Skeel of Jungetgård (died here in 1555); 2) married to Laurids Rostrup of Ristrup. Her son Albert Skeel, executed in 1609, was married to Anne Kaas (Sparre-Kaas), maybe the farm came from her to her cousin Mogens Kaas of Støvring, who in 1624 sold it to hr. Jørgen Skeel of Ulstrup. K. was laid under Ulstrup, until Peter Gottlieb Koch in 1841 sold it to Christen Jørgensen, whose son Christen Christensen in 1860 took it over, and in ab. 1870 built the present buildings. His son Christen Jørgen Christensen (+ 1923) and his son Folmer Rud Christensen owned the farm later. (1962)

East of Kællinghøl at the northern edge of the meadow along Gudenaa river lies the considerable and wellkept castle bank Gravene  (= the Graves),which consists of two castle banks, one large slant square (about 40x60 m), upon which surface were found monk brick- foundations, and in its northeast corner and divided by a grave a lesser, almost circular bank. A big dam out towards the river valley did - before it was broken through - put the surroundings of the two banks under water. 
The buildings of the farm were supposedly placed upon the large bank, to which was access across a smaller bank, which held the buildings for protection of the access-road (a Castrum Curia-plan, probably from the late Middle Ages.

A sacred spring was found a little north of Hjorthede's easternest farm.

Listed prehistorics: a group of 4 hills in Hjermind skov.
Demolished or destroyed: two dolmens and 17 hills.

At Hjorthede was found the cut-off of the outer end of a reindeer antler, a witness that the reindeer hunters were hunting in the district. From Hjorthede origins a large sacrifice find from late Bronze Age with  3 three-double necklace-rings, 2 spiral-bracelets, a piece of a sword etc.

Names from the Middle Ages and 1600s: Hjorthede (1403 Hiorthiede, 1423 Hiorthhædhæ); Sønder Tulstrup (1664 Sønderthulstrup); Kællinghøl (1486 Kierlinghøøll); Sløvkrog (1683 Slof Krog, 1688 Sløfkrog Gaard.)

Source: Trap Danmark, Viborg amt, 1962   
photo: borrowed from Google Earth, 2013.



  















News about Hjorthede church. 
In 2000 an old coin was found on the church yard, a penning from Valdemar Sejr's rule , probably minted 1220. The church got in 2001 a church ship made by Ove Andreasen, Odense and given by Margrethe Nielsen.


Restoration and new decoration of the church 2008-2009, new colours and a new altar painting by the artist Anita Houvenaeghel. The altarpiece is the same.

Source: Hjorthede Borgerforening/website.