LadyofShalott (talk | contribs) m →History: c/e for readability |
→History: An attempt to make the history more chronological. Adding a (sourced) suggestion about what may remain under the sand, and mentioning funerals until 1801/1810.. |
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The church belonged to the [[Monarchy of Denmark|Crown]] until 1487, when ownership was handed over to the [[Hospital of the Holy Ghost, Aalborg]].<ref name=kirkehistorie>{{cite web|url=http://www.kirkehistorie.dk/hjor/sogn1198.htm|title=Skagen gamle kirke (den tilsandede)|publisher=Danmarks Kirkehistorie|language=Danish|accessdate=6 September 2013}}</ref> |
The church belonged to the [[Monarchy of Denmark|Crown]] until 1487, when ownership was handed over to the [[Hospital of the Holy Ghost, Aalborg]].<ref name=kirkehistorie>{{cite web|url=http://www.kirkehistorie.dk/hjor/sogn1198.htm|title=Skagen gamle kirke (den tilsandede)|publisher=Danmarks Kirkehistorie|language=Danish|accessdate=6 September 2013}}</ref> |
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Sand began drifting in from [[Råbjerg Mile]] around 1600, the area surrounding the church becoming affected by the [[Dune#Desertification|desertification]] which destroyed the fields<ref name=kirkehistorie/>; it buried the nearby village<ref name="lamb"/> and had reached the church by the end of the 18th century.<ref name="visit"/> This sanding-over of land occurred in many coastal areas around the [[North Sea]] between 1400 and 1800, affecting Wales, Scotland, Denmark, and Holland; in the 1690s two such events took place in Scotland, and the desertification in the Skagen area happened over two centuries.<ref name="lamb">{{cite book|last=Lamb|first=Hubert|authorlink=Hubert Lamb|title=Weather, Climate and Human Affairs: A Book of Essays and Other Papers|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=vtI2RbNBsisC&pg=PT119|year=2013|publisher=Routledge|page=119|isbn=9781136639616}}</ref> |
Sand began drifting in from [[Råbjerg Mile]] around 1600, the area surrounding the church becoming affected by the [[Dune#Desertification|desertification]] which destroyed the fields<ref name=kirkehistorie/>; it buried the nearby village<ref name="lamb"/> and had reached the church by the end of the 18th century.<ref name="visit"/> This sanding-over of land occurred in many coastal areas around the [[North Sea]] between 1400 and 1800, affecting Wales, Scotland, Denmark, and Holland; in the 1690s two such events took place in Scotland, and the desertification in the Skagen area happened over two centuries.<ref name="lamb">{{cite book|last=Lamb|first=Hubert|authorlink=Hubert Lamb|title=Weather, Climate and Human Affairs: A Book of Essays and Other Papers|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=vtI2RbNBsisC&pg=PT119|year=2013|publisher=Routledge|page=119|isbn=9781136639616}}</ref> On [[Store Bededag|Great Prayer Day]] 1775, the church door had to be dug free for the congregation to be able to attend the service, and for the following twenty years, the Skageners struggled to keep the church free from sand, without being allowed to close it down. The furnishings and interior decorations were removed and some items were sold. Not until 1795 was the church closed by royal decree.<ref name=kirkehistorie/><ref>{{cite book|last1=Osborne|first1=Caroline|last2=Mouritsen|first2=Lone|title=The Rough Guide to Denmark|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=TjI95THMOv0C&pg=RA4-PR6|year=2010|publisher=Penguin|isbn=9781848369627|page=261}}</ref> The body of the church was demolished and the tower left as a navigational landmark. The floor, the altar, and the baptismal font are believed to be still under the sand; however, the church has never been excavated.<ref name=stift/> The chalice, candlesticks, and a bell were used in the new [[Skagen Church]] built by [[Christian_Frederik_Hansen|C. F. Hansen]] in 1841.<ref name="skagen">{{cite web|url=http://www.skagenkirke.dk/index.php?id=5879|title=Skagen Kirke|publisher=Folkekirken.dk|language=Danish|accessdate=6 September 2013}}</ref><ref name="stift">{{cite web|url=http://aalborgstift.dk/kirker/frederikshavn/skagen-kirke/den-tilsandede-kirke/|title=Skagen kirke: Den tilsandede kirke|year=2013|publisher=Diocese of Aalborg|language=Danish|accessdate=6 September 2013}}</ref>) <!--there's a handbook with small line illustrations of coastal churches which would be the ref for this--> The whitewashed church tower is all that is visible of the former church and the now-buried village.<ref name="lamb"/><ref name="skagen"/> |
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The last funeral in the churchyard took place in 1801 according to some accounts, in 1810 according to others.<ref name=stift/> |
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The tower and its (former) church have attracted attention from writers such as [[Hans Christian Andersen]] (it is a setting in his "A Story from the Dunes"<ref>{{cite book|last=Andersen|first=Hans Christian|authorlink=Hans Christian Andersen|others=Erik Christian Haugaard (trans.)|title=The Complete Fairy Tales and Stories|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=pKO5Bydk2QEC&pg=PA1085|year=2011|publisher=Random House|isbn=9780307777898|page=1085}}</ref>) and is one of the best-known churches in Denmark.<ref name=kirkehistorie/><ref>{{cite book|last1=Lawson|first1=Kristan|last2=Rufus|first2=Anneli S.|title=Weird Europe: A Guide to Bizarre, Macabre, and Just Plain Weird Sights|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=Uooz_oCrVpAC&pg=PA59&dq=%22Den+Tilsandede+Kirke%22&hl=en&sa=X&ei=ci0qUq_qDZDs9ASrh4H4Bw&ved=0CCwQ6AEwADgK#v=onepage&q=%22Den%20Tilsandede%20Kirke%22&f=false|year=1999|publisher=Macmillan|isbn=9780312198732|page=59}}</ref> The tower now belongs to the [[National Museum of Denmark]] and is still maintained as a beacon.<ref name=kirkehistorie/> |
The tower and its (former) church have attracted attention from writers such as [[Hans Christian Andersen]] (it is a setting in his "A Story from the Dunes"<ref>{{cite book|last=Andersen|first=Hans Christian|authorlink=Hans Christian Andersen|others=Erik Christian Haugaard (trans.)|title=The Complete Fairy Tales and Stories|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=pKO5Bydk2QEC&pg=PA1085|year=2011|publisher=Random House|isbn=9780307777898|page=1085}}</ref>) and is one of the best-known churches in Denmark.<ref name=kirkehistorie/><ref>{{cite book|last1=Lawson|first1=Kristan|last2=Rufus|first2=Anneli S.|title=Weird Europe: A Guide to Bizarre, Macabre, and Just Plain Weird Sights|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=Uooz_oCrVpAC&pg=PA59&dq=%22Den+Tilsandede+Kirke%22&hl=en&sa=X&ei=ci0qUq_qDZDs9ASrh4H4Bw&ved=0CCwQ6AEwADgK#v=onepage&q=%22Den%20Tilsandede%20Kirke%22&f=false|year=1999|publisher=Macmillan|isbn=9780312198732|page=59}}</ref> The tower now belongs to the [[National Museum of Denmark]] and is still maintained as a beacon.<ref name=kirkehistorie/> |
Revision as of 20:27, 7 September 2013
The Sand-Covered Church (Danish: Den Tilsandede Kirke, also translated as The Buried Church, and also known as Old Skagen Church) is the name given to a late 14th-century church dedicated to Saint Lawrence of Rome. The tower is the only part of the original structure still standing. The church itself, threatened by sand from nearby dunes, was abandoned and demolished. It was a brick church of considerable size, located 2 km south-west of the town centre of Skagen, Denmark.
Architecture
The church is one of the oldest buildings in Skagen.[1] It was built in the Gothic style between 1355 and 1387 (the date of its first mention), and had a long, vaulted, rectangular nave of brick with exterior buttresses. The brick material was imported from Holland and Germany, especially from Lübeck.[2] The vestry was on the north side, the porch on the south side, and the tower (added around 1475, making the entire structure 45 meters long) on the west side of the main building. The church was made of red brick with a lead roof; the tower was done in patterned yellow brick, and was whitewashed after 1816.[2]
History
The church belonged to the Crown until 1487, when ownership was handed over to the Hospital of the Holy Ghost, Aalborg.[2]
Sand began drifting in from Råbjerg Mile around 1600, the area surrounding the church becoming affected by the desertification which destroyed the fields[2]; it buried the nearby village[3] and had reached the church by the end of the 18th century.[4] This sanding-over of land occurred in many coastal areas around the North Sea between 1400 and 1800, affecting Wales, Scotland, Denmark, and Holland; in the 1690s two such events took place in Scotland, and the desertification in the Skagen area happened over two centuries.[3] On Great Prayer Day 1775, the church door had to be dug free for the congregation to be able to attend the service, and for the following twenty years, the Skageners struggled to keep the church free from sand, without being allowed to close it down. The furnishings and interior decorations were removed and some items were sold. Not until 1795 was the church closed by royal decree.[2][5] The body of the church was demolished and the tower left as a navigational landmark. The floor, the altar, and the baptismal font are believed to be still under the sand; however, the church has never been excavated.[6] The chalice, candlesticks, and a bell were used in the new Skagen Church built by C. F. Hansen in 1841.[7][6]) The whitewashed church tower is all that is visible of the former church and the now-buried village.[3][7]
The last funeral in the churchyard took place in 1801 according to some accounts, in 1810 according to others.[6]
The tower and its (former) church have attracted attention from writers such as Hans Christian Andersen (it is a setting in his "A Story from the Dunes"[8]) and is one of the best-known churches in Denmark.[2][9] The tower now belongs to the National Museum of Denmark and is still maintained as a beacon.[2]
References
- ^ Svanholm, Lise (2006). Damerne på Skagen (in Danish). Gyldendal. p. 9. ISBN 9788702044997.
- ^ a b c d e f g "Skagen gamle kirke (den tilsandede)" (in Danish). Danmarks Kirkehistorie. Retrieved 6 September 2013.
- ^ a b c Lamb, Hubert (2013). Weather, Climate and Human Affairs: A Book of Essays and Other Papers. Routledge. p. 119. ISBN 9781136639616.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
visit
was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Osborne, Caroline; Mouritsen, Lone (2010). The Rough Guide to Denmark. Penguin. p. 261. ISBN 9781848369627.
- ^ a b c "Skagen kirke: Den tilsandede kirke" (in Danish). Diocese of Aalborg. 2013. Retrieved 6 September 2013.
- ^ a b "Skagen Kirke" (in Danish). Folkekirken.dk. Retrieved 6 September 2013.
- ^ Andersen, Hans Christian (2011). The Complete Fairy Tales and Stories. Erik Christian Haugaard (trans.). Random House. p. 1085. ISBN 9780307777898.
- ^ Lawson, Kristan; Rufus, Anneli S. (1999). Weird Europe: A Guide to Bizarre, Macabre, and Just Plain Weird Sights. Macmillan. p. 59. ISBN 9780312198732.
Further reading
- Lonstrup, J.; Nielsen, I. (1995). Skagen: Den tilsandede Kirke. Skagen.
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
External links
- "A Story from the Dunes", by H. C. Andersen