Road Trip 2025 (12) - Bruzaholm

Tuesday, 12 August - Part 4
Bruzaholm

Between "Bullerbyn" and our destination for the night, Eksjö, we made a stop at an old iron works village, Bruzaholm, dating back to the 1600s. The industrial museum was not open; but we walked around for a bit outside, and I snapped some photos of the old buildings, ponds, canals and whatnot.

I think the red houses across the water is where the workers used to live. Perhaps some still do! There is still a factory producing cast iron products in the village, with around 70 employees (according to the Swedish Wikipedia article). The total population in the village nowadays is around 246 (2023), so it's still a small one!

The spelling of its name, Bruzaholm, is unusual, as you don't often see the letter "z" in Swedish. In the past, it was spelled with an s (Brusaholm). Originally the name referred to the nearby river Brusan; but the family who started the iron works were called Bruzelius, and with time, that came to influence the spelling of the name of the whole village.

Illustration for the letters X Y Z in a series of 
alphabet postcards by Swedish artist Lena Andersson

Road Trip 2025 (11) - Old Church at Pelarne

Tuesday, 12 August - Part 3
Pelarne Church

Near the little village Sevedstorp (nowadays also known as 'Bullerbyn', cf previous post), we also made a short stop at Pelarne church, with separate belfry (bell tower); situated up on a little hill just by the road. The church wasn't open, but we walked around it.

Gate

 

This church is one of only a few old wooden churches left in Sweden that date back as far as to medeival times. The oldest part of this church is believed to be from the early 1200s; and if so may even be the oldest wooden church still in use. 

On June 30, 1905, Samuel August Ericsson (1875-1969) och Hanna Jonsson (1879-1961) were married in this church. Two years later, their daughter was born - who was to grow up to become the famous author Astrid Lindgren (cf. my previous three posts from this trip).  

On or near the big cross to the left in this photo was a sign saying that "This cross was raised in 1963 in memory of the around 7000 parishioners who have their final resting place here in the old churchyard, which served as cemetery until 1882." (A few old headstones, probably belonging to well-known and "important" people, can still be seen in the churchyard.) 

 

Below the hill, at the crossroads, the b&w sign (Kyrkogård) points towards the new cemetery (we did not go down there), while the blue one to the left points towards a walking trail.

Linking to Skywatch Friday

Another Church with an Impressive Gate

 (Monday, 5 August, cont.)

On our way back from the coast we also made a short stop at another church, in Sätila - not all that far from the one at Hyssna (previous post), where we had stopped on the way down the same morning. The church at Sätila too has a similar portal leading into the churchyard as the old church at Hyssna (but somewhat bigger). 

Via a Swedish Wikipedia article I found my way to an English one on the same topic, giving me the English name for it: lychgate. The English article points out that "Lychgates served to differentiate consecrated and unconsecrated space" and adds that stone lychgates might also enhance the sensation of entering another space by actually changing how you perceived sound inside vs outside that gate. The English article also mentions the gate being important in funeral rituals; while the Swedish one stresses that in medeival times, the churchyard and church was sacred ground, where people could seek refuge/sanctuary. So these gates served more than just an ornamental purpose.

The church at Sätila is situated on a hill, overlooking a lake.

Outside that church, there are also two large stone tablets with inscriptions to do with the church's history. The first one is in memory of the church being extended in 1725. The second one in memory of renovations done in 1900-1901 (and naming a lot of people involved, from the king and the bishop and the vicar, to architects and painters...).

 

These records literally "written in stone" also reminded me of the stone with a much shorter message of similar kind that we found at the church at Vänga. So maybe raising memorials to major changes of church buildings was a common tradition in this part of Sweden as well (even if I can't recall having come across a whole lot of them, and especially not placed outside the church rather than within).

A Remarkable Castle (Tjolöholm)

 

Monday 5 August saw us "on the road" again, for a longer day trip down to the coast, and a castle by the name of Tjolöholm.

 

A REMARKABLE CASTLE

The Tjolöholm estate has been known since the 13th century when it belonged to King Valdemar of Denmark, anc over the centuries it has been owned by many distinguished families. 

In 1892 the estate was bought by the Swedish-British couple James Fredrik and Blanche Dickson. The estate became Sweden's largest stud farm of its time, breeding racehorses. When the Dicksons bought the estate it had a manor house in the Italian Renaissance style, only 30 years old but in poor condition.

In 1897 the Dicksons announced an architecture competition to design an Elizabethan style castle. Architect Lars Israel Wahlman's entry 'Hobgoblin' came second, but he was still asked to build the castle. The prime inspiration for his design came from the British Arts and Crafts movement's love of natural materials and high-quality craftsmanship.

Shortly after construction began, James Fredrik Dickson died of blood poisoning. The castle was finished under the watchful eye of Blanche Dickson. In 1904 the castle was complete and the old manor house was demolished.

Before we went up to the castle itself, we had a salad lunch at their Garden Café.

Outdoors, there were Things Going On... We gathered that they were preparing for a live sing-along event with a nationally well known Swedish musician and TV host the same evening. (Our name for this kind of event is allsång = "everybody singing". It's quite a strong tradition in Sweden.) We had no plans to stay that long, though.

The concert stage

 

On a field nearby, there was also this strange sight: Lots and lots of conical tents. From something we overheard someone say, we got the impression that there was, or had been, a scout jamboree going on. I have not been able to find any proof of that online, though. (But I still can't think what else it might be...)

 

After lunch, we walked up to the castle. 

As the next guided tour was not on for a while yet, we chose to go round on our own, with the help of a brochure (taking us the same route through the rooms). We have visited the place once before, but that was many years ago now. On that occasion, I remember that we got a guide all to ourselves, as there weren't any other visitors at the time! But this time, we were far from alone.

The tour starts in the billiard room, with a stained glass skylight, and some sofas that one is allowed to sit on. I suppose the guide on the guided tours starts with a general introduction here. 

Looking down on the entrace hall from the floor above

  

Self-playing piano

Hidden light-switches detail

 

Blanche's desk in her private boudoir.

(Look closely, and you'll see me in the mirror...) 

There were originally three bathrooms in the castle, and six separate WCs. In the  shower (a novelty in its time) you got the water from the sides and from below as well as from above!

Nursery

Wardrobes

The hall of the Guest Wing

One of the guestrooms

View of the sea from the castle

Mushroom sculptures in the garden

Before we left the premises, we also visited their Wagon Museum. (So we got to see one of those on this holiday after all! - after having found another one closed on Saturday...). 

The strangest thing in there was this item, below - can you guess what it is?
 

x

x

x

x

x

Answer:

After we left Tjolöholm, we felt we also wanted to get a proper feeling of actually having been at the seaside... But I'll save that for another post.