Hornstrup church/ Hornstrup kirke, Nørvang herred, Vejle amt

Hornstrup church, Google earth

Hornstrup church The whitewashed church in Hornstrup is tiled, except for the tower, which has a leaden roof. The church has a Romanesque choir and nave with a late Gothic tower to the west and a porch from the reformation period to the south. The Romanesque building is in raw granite and travertine without a visible plinth. The choir has kept rests of an original wall-decoration with narrow corner lesenes, between which is a round-arch frieze upon the east side. The extended south door is in use, while the north door has disappeared. In the north side of the choir is inside seen a bricked-up flatcurved door, which might be original,  but most probably has led out to the sacristy. The round choir arch stands inside with straight-edged kragsten (corbels). In the Gothic period, probably ab. 1400, choir and nave were vaulted, the choir with one, the nave with three bays cross vaults, all with profiled ribs. In late Gothic period the tower was added in monk bricks; it has a cross-vaulted bottom room with a pointed arch towards the nave. The bell storey has to the south, west and north tall, round-arched peepholes, one couple for each corner of the world. The smooth gables turn east, west and show the foot timber of the roof work. The porch is mainly built in monk bricks, it seems to origin from the middle of the 1500s. Its extended flat-curved door, flanked by two circular glares, us placed in a round-arched frame. Badly kept fresco-remains from ab 1500 were revealed in 1903 in choir and nave, but was whitewashed again.

Hornstrup church, Google earth

The altarpiece is a simple joinery in Baroque from 1685 with a painting from 1914, a copy of a Carl Bloch-painting. A Romanesque granite font with very scrapped, carved figures; four lions, divided by trees two and two. The font is much familiar to the font in Korning. A south German dish ab. 1575. A pulpit in rural late Baroque ab. 1750. In the west end of the nave a gallery with organ. In the porch a naive wooden figure (Moses) from the 1700s. The bell from the beginning of the 1300s with majuskel inscription:  IHESUS CRISTUS GHODEHARDUS. - A gravestone for Iver Vind of Grundet (+ 1586) and wife Anne Heinrichsdatter (+ 1579), four coat of arms and a written kartouche under arcade, a work by the Roskilde-master Oluf N. Krog.

Store Grundet 1910, wikipedia

Store Grundet, wikipedia

Store Grundet. Frederik II exchanged in 1579 the village Grundet to Iver Vind (+ 1586); he wrote himself of Grundet already the same year. Grundet came after his death to his sons Christen Vind (+ 1605) Henrik Vind (+ 1607) and Jakob Vind (+ 1607); the last mentioned's widow Else Høeg (Banner) still owned the farm in 1609, but thereafter it came to Jakob's brother's son Niels Albertsen Vind of Ullerup (+ 1615); his widow Kirsten Juel (+ 1627) and son Niels Vind (+ 1646). In 1638 Kirstine Nielsdatter Vind  (+ 1690) inherited G. She was married to Tage Krabbe of Gunderslevholm (+ 1676). She sold G. in 1679 to colonel Otto Fr. v Gamm (+ 1698), whom she later married. In an exchange after him the farm was laid out with taxes and estate and main building to the son Christoffer Fr. v. Gamm (+ 1701), whose halfbrother, major Erik Krabbe (+ 1709) in 1705 deeded it to colonel Ditlev Brockdorff of Hvolgård, who in 1710 deeded it to his brother generalløjtnant, friherre Shack Brockdorff of Schelenborg (+ 1730). In 1722 the farm was deeded to his son-in-law, colonel Henrik Brockdorff of Stovgård (+ 1730), whose widow Charlotte Amalie Reedtz in 1731 gave her inheritence-rights in G. to her stepson colonel Schack von Brockdorff of Højgård (+ 1761). His widow Sophie Hedevig v Grabow owned G. till her death in 1784, whereafter her son-in-law merchant Hans Helmuth v Lüttichau of Tjele (+ 1801) bought G.,Højgård, taxes, church estate and farm estate at an auction.
 Later owners: Shack v Lüttichau, Mathias v Lüttichau, Johan Sigismund Knuth, Christian Frederik Knuth, Niels Skou, and after 1930  Nels Skou's heirs.

Store Grundet and new parcels. Google earth.

The main building (1840-1842-1847)  is listed in class B. The garden is one with the forest ,a large avenue leads up to the main road.



Lille Grundet was made from 8 parcels of Store Grundet. Deeded in 1800 to Jens Sørensen in Rødemølle, same year deeded to Laurids Kilstrup (+ 1823). The owner from 1891 Niels Skou, after his death in 1930 to his son N. Skou.

Øster Grundet belonged to Kr. Skou (+1958); after him to his daughter fru Iris Lundgaard, Ausumgård.

Juulsbjerg is from ab. 1845, owner in 1964 V. Jørgensen.

A farm in Lysholt was by the Crown exchanged to Peder Ebbesen Galt; after his brother's son Ebbe Andersen Galt (+ unmarried ab. 1553) the farm Lysholt came to his mother's brother Christoffer Gøye (+ childless 1584), who owned it in 1562. Later it belonged to Hans Axelsen Arenfeldt of Rugård (+ 1611) whose son hr. Axel Arenfelt of Basnæs still in 1626 wrote himself of it. In 1773 Lysholt was under Grundet.

Esbern Jensen deeded some estate in Lysholt to hr Niels Brock the elder, who let Peder Hamundsen use it, in 1323 Christoffer II had to, after 4 in vain judgments, to let Niels Brock enter the estate by power.

Grundet birk (judicial)  is mentioned for the first time in 1495 and was apparently the 7 farms which  represented Grundet village. In an exchange in 1578, where Iver Vind bought Grundet village, is Grundet birk also mentioned. Its size was now extended and included in 1687 9 farms and 6 smaller houses in Hornstrup, in Lysholt 1 farm, in Kirkeby 1 farm and in Grønholt 4 farms. At that time the name Hornstrup birk was used. The birk was abandoned in 1806, since the estates came under a herredsjurisdiction. (districtjurisdiction).

Hornstrup, landscape, Google earth.

Ege or Egebjerg birk seems already mentioned in 1401, since there was a thing's witness about some estate in Bredballe and Tirsbæk. The sources indicate that this birk was for Bredballe and Tirsbæk.   .

There were many feuds about Bredballe, where the king only had a small desolate bol (house), but the royal vasal tried to lay hands on two farms and to make the Bredballe farmers belong to Rom's birk.  Niels Bugge's son-in-law Johan Skarpenberg forced the men in Bredballe to do rope in Roms birk This was forbidden by the state council in 1469. But the feuds did not stop. In 1533 a final judgment was confirmed  by the state council about the birks.

A sacred spring was found at Stejlbjerg in Bredballe.  

During a clearance of a small forest at Hornstrup in 1842 numerous coins were found, among those some Netherland dalere and crowns from Chr IV, a collected weight of 2118 gram, the latest coin was from 1624.

Sindholt (1478 Sinholtt) is the name of an area between Store Grundet and Hornstrup church, where acc. to a priest report from 1638 stood a kloster "Sindholtsborg"; there were still rests of cellars.

Grundet was originaly a village, nearby was another village Grønholt (1638 Grønholtt) which in 1664 was said to consist of 8 bol (smaller houses),  among these Podehuset (1683 Podehuesed) and Munkehuset (1683 Munchehues, Monckhuussz). 
 
 No prehistorics.
Destroyed or demolished: 6 hills, among these the stone encircled Gammelhøj at Bredballe. 

In Grejsdalen was discovered an important sacrifice- or depot-find of thicknecked flint axes. An Iron Age's shell heap is known from the mouth of Bybæk (the city brook) -  and at Bredballe mark (field) were found waste pits and urn graves from Celtic Iron Age.

Hornstrup parish became 27/3 1700 annex of Vejle, but in a resolution of 9/8 1908 it became again its own parish.


Names from the Middle Ages: Kirkeby (1496 Kirckebye); Hornstrup (ab. 1330 Hornstorp); Bredballe (1469 Bredebalgh; 1471 Bredhballigh); Store Grundet (1459 Grunydh, 1480 Grunnet).




Source: Trap Danmark, Vejle amt, 1964.
photo: Google earth and wikipedia.