Tversted church/ Tversted kirke, Horns herred, Hjørring amt.

Tversted church, ab. 18 km northeast of Hjørring, photo: gb-2004

Tversted parish, Horns herred, Hjørring amt. 

The low, lead-roofed church in Tversted is an ashlar building from Romanesque period. It conists of a long nave, a choir with a flat altar wall and a newer porch to the north. The oldest sections are the choir and the eastern section of the nave, which rests upon a bevelled plinth, but which has partly re-built walls. In the east wall of the choir is the lintel of a Romanesque window. The old north door of the nave is in its original place, but it seems extended; the south door is bricked-up. In the late Middle Ages the nave was extended to the west, partly with bricks, partly with re-used ashlars from the broken down western gable. Upon the south wall of the extension is an ashlar with an upside down animal head in relief. The western gable got later - maybe in the 1700s - some curved roofings; the year 1787 in wall anchors refer maybe to this. The church has inside a beamed ceiling in choir and nave. The choir arch with heavy kragsten is kept.

interior, photo: gb-2004

 
The altarpiece is a carved work from ab. 1600, divided in main and top piece, the main piece with sidewings is triple. In the mid field is a painting from 1884 by Anker Lund. A Romanesque granite font. A simple pulpit from the late 1600s with portraits of the Evangelists in the fields. In the porch - which was built 1890 - is inserted a headstone for the priests Laurids Mikkelsen (+ 1609)  and Palle Andersen (+ 1629) with wives,  for manager Niels Christensen (+ 1686) , for Dean Peder Bjerring (+ 1761), and for Jens Brøndlund of Nørre Elkær, (+ 1778) with wife, née Eylandt. Northeast of the church a bellframe with a bell, which has an inscription in Renaissance majuskels 1512.

News from the church after 1960:  a cross upon the altar is a fantastic work in goldthread.  In the church are four pretty chasubles,which like the antepedium and the altar cloth were made by the Icelandic artist Elin Stefansdóttir. In the church are two ore-chandeliers and a church ship from 1962. The organ is from 1975.  


Nørre Elkær -  2 1/2 km southeast of Tversted village - was in the Middle Ages a peasant farm, which Anne Henriksdatter Friis (of Haraldskær) of Odden (+ 1542) by marriage brought to hr. Ove Vincentsen Lunge (Dyre) of Tirsbæk and Kragerup (+ 1540)Their son Christoffer Ovesen Lunge (Dyre) of Odden (+ 1565) owned undobtedly the farm. His son Erik Christoffersen Lunge (Dyre) of Stovgård (+ unmarried 1616), owned E. in 1616, which at that time was mentioned as a main farm. Later the farm came to his brother's  son's daughter fru Birgitte Lunge (Dyre) of E., who died young in 1628, but was married to the later rigsråd Henrik Ramel of Bäckaskog etc (+ 1653). Their daughter Birgitte Ramel died in 1640 underage, and E. was hereafter inherited by her halfsisters Anna Ramel of Osbygård (+ 1702), m. 1) to Albert Skeel of Katholm and Hessel (+ 1667) and Margrethe Ramel (+ 1699), m. to Erik Christensen Sehested of Lykkesholm (+ 1683), who in 1662 was stated as the owner of E. He deeded in 1665 a part of the farm to Markor Steensen Rodsteen at Lerbæk (+ 1681), who probably became the sole owner of the farm.
Later owners: the Rodsteen-family  until 1695; Hans Fr. Levetzow; Anders Pedersen Brønsdorph; Lukas Jensen Kjærulf; Lars Borch Hauch; Jens Nielsen Brøndlund; Laurids Bartholin Schmidt; the brothers Henning and Peder Ring and the Ring-family until 1899; a consortium , outparcelling, main parcel bought by Fred. Mølbach; Hans Claus Chr. Bang; Rudolf Ovesen; Chr. Nielsen and Niels Nielsen; A.P.Jacobsen, in 1959 sold to H. Brødsgaard.   

Slynge was ab. 1630 owned by jomfru Johanne Lykke, who in 1632 exchanged it to Otte Lauridsen Lunov of Rekkergård (Bølling herred)(+ earliest 1660), who in 1633-36 wrote himself of S., but in 1637 sold it to fru Sofie Brahe Stensdatter of Høgholt and Odden etc. (+ 1659), widow after rigsmarsk hr. Jørgen Lunge (Dyre)(+ 1619). In 1662 S. was 2 tenant farms.

There are no listed prehistorics in the parish, but there were 3, now overploughed, hills.

At Østenkær were found two settlements from early Stone Age and several urn graves of uncertain age.  


   
Names from the Middle Ages and 1600s: Tværsted/Tversted  (1394 Thwerstedh);  Vester Tværsted (1662 Vester Tuersted); Terpet (1574 Tverstedtorp, 1611 Torpett); Tuen (1662 Tuen); Horsnab (1419 Hornsnab); Skram (1662 Sckram); Sørig (1479 Sørickshoffuitt); Volhøj (1662 Walhye); Nørre Elkær (1419 Ell..., 1662 Elkier); Slynge (1611 Slønge); Gøgsig (1638 Giøgsiig, 1662 Giøgsig). .

Tversted church,photo Google earth, 

Source: Trap Danmark, Hjørring amt, 1960.