Agri church / Agri kirke, Mols herred, Randers amt.

Agri church, 15 km west of Ebeltoft
Agri sogn, Mols herred, Randers amt

Interior

The church has a Romanesque choir and nave, a Gothic west extension and tower - and a southern porch, built in the 1700s as a burial vault. In the earliest part it has a bricked-up original window in the northern wall of the nave and rests of a similar window in the southern wall. The choir has one and the nave three Gothic cross vaults. In the most western is a bricked-up shutter (egekarm = oak window frame) - the choir arch is extended and equipped with rundstavs kragbånd (round-stick-bands) like the arch columns. The tower is raw granite boulder and monk brick and probably contemporary with the Gothic western extension. The church has several supporting columns. It is skalmuret (facing walled) with tile and with round arched iron windows from the 1800s. Upon the tower's curved pyramid spire is an early weather vane with the inscription IHS 1934.

The communion table is walled and the altar piece is rural Baroque with an inscription on the backside "finished by Peder Iensøn here in Agri anno 1689 on June 25." The altar rails are straight and crosses the choir with udsavede (out-sawed) balusters. Altar candelabres ab. 1625. The Romanesque font is simple, the basin has a tovstav (rope decoration) and the foot sharp corner knots. Smooth baptismal bowl ab. 1700. The pulpit is rural Baroque like the altar piece.
Epitaphs from the 1700s. 5 grave trees from the 1600s.


Strandkær area, view across Ebeltoft Vig to Ebeltoft


A section of Strandkær /Mols Laboratory

Names in the Middle Ages:
Agri (*1203 Akcre, 1427 Agri, 1446 Ager); Basballe (1446 Basbally); Grønfeld (1451 Grønefeld); Strandkær (1487 Strankier).

Agri Mill was among the gifts which bishop Peder Vognsen in Århus gave his church in 1203.

Essendrupgård and the mill (now Femmøller) and Strandkærgård are mentioned 1487 and 1511 as an estate of Erik Hvas' widow. 1511 they were sold to Niels Clemmensen, vasal at Kalø. 1586 they were endowed to Ulrik Sandberg of Kvelstrup.

Near Grønfeld is a low hill named the Castle, surrounded on two sides by a water stream, old bricks have been found in the place.

The old half-timbered farm buildings Nedre Strandkær belong to Naturhistorisk Museum in Århus , and the Mols Laboratory is established here. The big nature area at Strandkær is open to the public.

While demolishing an old house in Agri village a pot was found walled into the chimney. It contained small coins up to an amount of 106 rigsbankdaler from 1611-1788.

Listed prehistorics: 3 round barrows: one southwest of Agri with a chamber and a cover stone with 9 hollows ; one northwest of Agri with a heavy cover stone; and finally Stenkisten, also northwest of Agri with large edge stones and a removed chamber plus a dolmen chamber at Grønfeld. Furthermore 21 burial mounds of which several are rather large hills: the two Stabelhøje north of Agri and Rugdalshøj northwest of the town. Upon a hill northeast of the town are the 5 Julingshøje.
Demolished or destroyed: a long dolmen, 3 other dolmens, 3 stone graves, a passage grave and 57 burial mounds of which a large part were placed in a row around Agri.

Strandkær: Naturhistorisk Museum

Source: Trap Danmark , Randers amt, 1963.
photo Agri /Strandkær 2003/2006: grethe bachmann