Hune church / Hune kirke, Hvetbo herred, Hjørring amt.

Hune church, ab. 22 km southwest of Hjørring.

Hune parish, Hvetbo herred, Hjørring amt. 

Hune church is inaugurated to Vor Frue (Our Lady). It has a nave, a choir with apse, a west tower and a porch to the south.The nave, choir and apse are Romanesque and built in granite ashlars upon a bevelled plinth, the apse has a double plinth with profiles. The southern walls have newer windows, but the north side has traces after the original, now bricked-up windows. The north, square door is bricked-up after 1642, the south door is still in use. In the north wall of the choir is a low-placed, small, now bricked-up wall opening, which might have been a leprosy window. The tower is mostly built in bricks in the Gothic period, in same broadth as the nave and straight gables west-east. A staircase on the west wall of the tower. The upper section of the tower was later re-walled  and made lower. The overvaulted tower room, which has a pointed arch towards the nave, is now used as a burial chapel and is separated from the nave by a new brick wall. Probably at the same time as the building of the tower the church was overvaulted, and the rather high, vaulted porch was added. The original Romanesque triumph arch divides the three vault-bays of the nave (rib-vaults) from the one vault of the choir. The apse, which original vault is rebuilt in the Gothic period, is a half rib vault is now separated from the choir by a barrier wall and is used as a sacristy. The church was restored in 1937.

Interior:
The communion table is granite. The altarpiece from 1850 with a painting signed Vige 1909. Late Gothic candelabres, chalice and dish from the 1600s. An oblat box in silver, given by Jens Gleerup of Lundergaård in 1760 (with inscription). A Romanesque font with a rope stick. A late Gothic Maria figure is set up in the nave. A late Gothic Christ figure was given to Vendsyssels historiske Museum in 1932. A grey-painted pulpit from the late 1700s. Upon the north wall of the nave hangs the original altarpicture. A late medieval bell in the tower without inscription.

News since 1960: The late Gothic Christ figure which was given to Vendsyssel Museum in 1932 has now returned to Hune church and was in 1992 placed upon the wall above the altar table. 


Memorials: 

Epitaph in marble in the choir for the priest Hans Winde and wife, (both + 1741), set up by Laurids Winde 1772. Under the epitaph is inserted an oak plate, set up in 1774 by the parish clerks Christen and Jens Winde. In the choir a gravestone for ship-trader Svend Bondrup (+ 1789) and wife. A Romanesque gravestone with a carved cross is inserted in the wall of the porch. Another lies south of the nave.

Runestone:
In the tower room stands a runestone from the Viking period, which inscription is: "Hove, Thorkil og Thorbjørn satte deres fader Rumulf den rådsnildes sten." ("Hove, Thorkil and Thorbjørn raised this stone for their father Rumulf the Clever." )




Upon a farm in Hunetorp lived in the 1600s some nobles, like before 1626 Vogn Krag (Kid) (+ earliest 1657) of Nørgård in Svenstrup (Hjortdal parish), m. to Anne Pallesdatter Griis of Slettegård (+ earliest 1653); ab. 1656 lived in H. fru Maren Henriksdatter Krag (+ latest 1669), widow after Bagge Griis of Slette (+ ab. 1635), who was the brother of above mentioned fru Anne. She married since Niels Fredberg of Fredbjerggård and Trinderup (Onsild herred) ( + earliest 1652). Her daughter (of 1 marriage) Kirsten Baggesdatter Griis was m. to John Finlasson Scott (+ 1713), who lived at the farm in H. and probably bought out his co-heirs in ab. 1664. In 1679  they moved from H. , probably to Gundestrup in Skræm parish, their son Jørgen or (Johan) Scott( + 1733), sold in 1727 a farm in H. where he probably had resided.

landscape , Blokhus, photo 2011: grethe bachmann

From disappeared farms of Hune parish: Maegård was in 1611 destroyed by the sand drift, Bjørnsgård even sooner, but it is still mentioned in 1679. Klitgård was the old vicarage of the parish, but already in 1571 much dilapidated by the sand drift; in 1690 it was only a house, the name exists still in 1714. Trudsholm is in 1611 mentioned as a farm, in 1662 as a lesser house, it is probably identical with Storkborg. 
 

Hune kro (inn) was established in 1858,but was in 1892 moved to Pandrup.

Blokhus Mølle ( a weather mill )was mentioned already in 1688. At Blokhus bæk (brook) was until ab. 1885 a small valkemølle (fulling cloth).  

Blokhus 2011, photo: grethe bachmann

At Pirupshvarre was in the beginning of the 1800s upon Lien a guard shack and an alarm pole,  from where was lookout for hostile ships.

In Hunetorp was in 1958 by National Museum brought to light some farm sites from the Renaissance.

Klitgårds badehotel is not a typical representative of the North Jutland farms, but it stands with solid timbered outbuildings, of which the eastern originally was a living house and the western contained store rooms as a memory about the ship-traders' farms in the 1700s and 1800s in the coast cities of Vendsyssel.

In Hune parish were besides the above mentioned farms Bjørnsgård, Trudsholm, (1662 Rruds Holmen), Klitgård (1688 Klit Gaard) and Maegård (1688 Morgaard, 1722 Maagaard) also the farm Løkkegård (1665 Lyckegaard) and the houses mentioned in 1662: Schallebore and Broerbech.    

Blokhus, tourist shop, photo 2011: grethe bachmann

In Aalborg's lensregnskab (the vasalry's account of Aalborg) from the beginning of the 1600s is mentioned "Blokhuset", probably established ab. 1600 as a warehouse for the beginning skudehandel (barge trade) with Norway. It grew quickly into a small town, which in the 1700s was as profitable as Løkken.

The Hune parish was in its time very fertile and well populated with "7 farms resided by aristocracy", but the sand drift had harrassed the parish already 300 years ago, in 1582 is said that the parish "mestendels var ødelagt af sandflugt" ( mostly was destroyed by sand drift). 

Southwest of the church was until ab. 1870 a square stone setting called Tingstedet ,  which  might have been the original Thing place of the parish.

Listed prehistorics: 6 hills, among these are 4 rather large, like Storhøj at Ribergårde. 
Demolished or destroyed: two long dolmens and 39 hills, almost all in the northern part of the parish. At a large stone were found 6 uncut, thicknecked flintaxes, and at Stenmark were partly found a collected find of a spear  head and a pålstav (little axe), partly several early Roman period's stone graves.

Memorial for the author Thomas Olesen Løkken 1957 at the road between Hune and Blokhus.


Names from the Middle Ages and 1600s:  Hune kirke (1400 Hone); Blokhus (1688 Bloch Huusene); Hunetorp (1340 Houetorp/Honetorp); Pirup (1356 Pipetorp, 1471 Pirop); Pirupshvarre (1662 Huarit); Engesgård (1662 Engisgaard); Gl. Ulvholm (1610 Wldholm); Holmegård (1688 paa Holmen); Hedegård (1662 Heegaard); Brogård (1626 Sønderbroegaard, Nørbroegaard); Buj (1463 Nør-, Synder Buye, 1466 Kierling Buye, 1662 Bui); Hvarregård (1610 Huarregaard); Brogård (1638 Brogaard); Krattet (1638 Krattid).


 Source: Trap Danmark, Hjørring amt, 1960.

photo Hune church, borrowed from Google earth 2013, gb. 
photo Blokhus and landscape 2011: grethe bachmann