Astrup church/ Astrup kirke, Vennebjerg herred, Hjørring amt.

Astrup church, ab. 6 km east of Hjørring.

                                                                                                      

Astrup parish, Vennebjerg herred, Hjørring amt.

The church in Astrup has a late Romanesque choir and nave with a new porch to the south. The late Romanesque building is from ab. 1200-50 in granite ashlars and monk bricks upon a bevelled granite plinth. From original details are traceable the round arched north door and a bricked-up round arched window in the east wall of the choir. A Romanesque monolit window- lintel is inserted above a peephole of the burial cellar under the choir. The choir arch and the south door are both extended, probably in the Gothic period. A (now disappeared) tower is mentioned in 1639. The porch to the south is in small bricks, probably from the second half of the 1800s. Inside in the western gable is inserted a plaster copy  af a runestone found in the church in 1910 with the runic alphabet. The lead roofed building was latest restored in 1952.



From a disappeared Gothic altarpiece are three figures now in the National Museum. The present altarpiece in rural Rococo from ab. 1775 has outsawed wings and a crucifixion painting. Altarpainting from the late 1800s, a copy after C. Bloch: Resurrection, hangs in the church. A magnificent Renaissance chalice 1582, given by Mette (Viffert) wife of Morten Krabbe of Bøgsted. Baroque candelabres. A Romanesque granite font with a small halfcircular basin with ribs upon a pyramid-cone foot.  A South German dish ab. 1575 and with almost worn out coat of arms of : Juel. A fine late Gothic choir arch crucifix, ab. 1475. A pretty carved pulpit from 1616 by Niels Ibsen with coat of arms for Ulrik Sandberg and his two wives. A canopy from the church is now at Bøgsted manor, it was probably acquired in 1656. A disappeared painting, given 1670 by Søren Christensen,  and a gallery from 1650, set up by jomfru Margrethe Sandberg:  both things mentioned in 1735.  Bell from 1560, cast by Peder Lauridsen, given by Morten Krabbe. In the choir a worn out gravestone, a figure stone for Morten Krabbe of Bøgsted, killed in war in Sweden 1566 and Mette Madsdatter (Viffert) (+ 1597). In a now closed burial cellar under the choir stood earlier 14 coffins with among others: Henrik Sandberg of Bøgsted (+ 1651), Mette Viffert of Hørbylund, (+ 1597) and Peder Jensen of Bøgsted (+ 1713), they are now all buried in the church yard. In the church are coffin plates for Mette Viffert (+ 1597) and Oluf Seefeld of Mølgård (+ 1697).



Bøgsted was in 1419 a village, where one farm was double as big as each other one, it was probably this farm, which ab. 1500 became the main farm, which swallowed the village; it was owned in the last half of the 1300s by the godsrige ( rich of estate) hr. Niels Ovesen (Panter) of Asdal, Skovgård (Vennebjerg herred) etc. ( + earliest 1355) and his wife, fru Johanne Andersdatter (Stenbrikke). In the exchange after them in 1419 the farms in B. went to their son-in-law, rigshofmester hr. Anders Jacobsen Lunge of Gunderslevlille etc. ( + latest 1429); his two marriages were childless, and B. came probably to his brother, rigsråd hr. Ove Jepsen Lunge of Nielstrup (Musse herred) (+ latest 1458), and then to his son hr. Tyge Ovesen Lunge of Basnæs (+ 1460), whose daughter Elsebe (Lisbeth) Tygesdatter Lunge (+ earliest 1512) was married to hr. Mogens Krabbe (of Østergård) of Bustrup (+ 1505). Their daughter Margrethe Mogensdatter Krabbe of Østergård is mentioned in 1521 and 1547 of B., which at this time must have been a nobility-farm (manor); her marriage to Henrik Jørgensen Friis (of Haraldskær) of Odden etc. (+ earliest 1500) was childless, and therefore the farm went to her brother rigsmarsk hr. Tyge Krabbe's son Morten Tygesen Krabbe of Bjørnholm (killed in 1566 in Sweden), his widow Mette Viffert of Hørbylund died in 1597, and B.went now to his sister's son hr. Ulrik Sandberg (+ 1636) and since to his son oberstløjtnant Henrik Sandberg (+ 1651) and his son Ulrik Sandberg (+ 1668), whose widow fru Sophie Maltesdater Sehested (+ 1706) in 1688 had to renounce farm and estate to forpagter (manager) at Voergård, Peder Jensen Holst, if he took over the debt.

After his death in 1713 his widow Anne Jørgensdatter Hald owned B. (+ 1728); she sold it in 1724 to her daughter's son Hans Bugge of Haven; he died 1759, his widow Elisabeth Dyssel died in 1769. Their estate was sold in 1770 acc. her will of 1765: B. and Haven to oberst  Niels Bentzen Jespersen of Høgholt (+ 1774); in auction after him the farm and peasant estate to ritmester Enevold Bolwig (+ 1817) who in 1804 renounced B. to kancelliråd Michael Brandt (+ 1812) in Hjørring and kammerråd Arent Hassel Rasmussen (+ 1842).
Later owners:  Andreas Andkjær; Johanne Louise Henriette Jakobsen, née Fischbach; Daniel Poppe of Lerbæk; Severin Hastrup; Sophie Elisabeth Zahrtmann, née Donner; Chr. Gottlieb Fritz Koch; G. Raben; Hans Emil Bluhme of Nørlund; P. Breth Petersen (A/S); P. Holm; Johs. Kjærgaard; Trygve Sagen in Oslo; Karl Jørgensen; E. Kirkegaard; Jysk Land-Hypotekforening; Johs. Fr.. Pommerencke.
Owner in 1959: A/S Oscar Siesbye, Khbvn.

News at Bøgsted January 2009:
Bøgsted is now listed. The owners have restored it completely with respect to its architecture.Bøgsted has no public access. ( Bøgsted is a pretty white Renaissance building, but it is private property, and I can not show you a photo. But you can see it by searching Bøgsted Hovedgaard in Google images/billeder. ) 



Listed prehistorics: 5 hills, of which Teglhøj at Sparrrevogn is the largest, and an Iron Age stone grave at Bøgsted.

Demolished or destroyed: The passage grave Puthøj at Sparrevogn and 32 hills, mainly in the eastern hilly part of the parish.

At Astrup was found metal from late Bronze Age. Graves with stones from early Roman Iron Age were found at Sønderskov, Torne, Grimmeshave, Klastrup, Sønderhede and Bøgsted. A settlement with a house site from the same period at Sønderskov. 

Names from the Middle Ages and 1600s: Astrup (1474 Astrvp); Sønderskov (1610 Synnderskoff); Klastrup (1419 Klaxstorp); Skærping (1480 Skerpingh); Borresholt (1610 Borids Holtt); Sparrevogn (1612 Sparre Wognn); Hundbjerg (1638 Hundberg); Grimmeshave (1484 Gremærsholth, 1547 Gremershafve); Hvims (1612 Wembs, 1662 Huimbs); Hving (1638 Huingh); Øster Tirup (1638 Øster Tirup); Mølskov (1662 Møllschow); Ryet (1638 Ryett); Kalstrup (1662 Kolstrup); Bøgsted (1418 Bøghested); Solbjerg (1419 Solberge Gaard); Grue (  ? Grud, 1638 Grue); Højen (1662 Wed Høyen); Skovbo (1638 Skouboe).




Source: Trap Danmark, Hjørring amt, 1960.

photo: borrowed from Google earth, 2013, gb