The Grove at Skjern Bridge

Skjernbro Lund (The Grove at Skjern Bridge)

The Skjernbro Lund area contains unique nature and holds fascinating stories about Skjern's past. This was once the most important crossing point over the broad and often wildly roaring Skjern River, and it was here that the first urban settlement known as Skjern arose.

Landscape and Nature
Despite its limited size, the area offers diverse nature: ancient inland dunes to the north, an old slope towards the Skjern River to the south, and two sandy, flat plains. Reportedly, the parish gallows once stood on the highest dune. On the highest plain, the remains of Skjern Brogaard and the Courthouse and Jail can be found, while the Judge’s Farm lies further west towards the river valley.
To the south are remains of the dikes from the 1960s straightening of the Skjern River, and a drainage ditch showing the iron ochre problem that arose after the river was altered.

Types of Nature
There are three main types of nature in the area:

• A marsh with a grove of birch trees
• A forest with old oak trees, beech, maple, Scotch pine, and aspen, along with four lime trees, which date back to 1804
• Nutrient-poor grassland with drought-tolerant plants like thrift, vetch, yellow bedstraw, hare's-foot clover, heather, and lime grass, along with scattered hawthorn, wild roses, and blackthorn

Wildlife
The area is home to many species of animals, birds, and insects: deer, foxes, hares, hedgehogs, stoats, and squirrels. Insects like dragonflies, damselflies, various butterflies, garden spiders, arachnids, and Denmark’s most beautiful spider, the wasp spider. Birds spotted here include great tits, blue tits, marsh tits, tree creepers, chiffchaffs, wrens, house sparrows, tree sparrows, blackbirds, starlings, great spotted woodpeckers, green woodpeckers, hawfinches, bullfinches, grebes, mallards, buzzards, and sea eagles.

 

Roads Across the Skjern River

Since ancient times, Denmark’s westernmost main thoroughfare crossed the Skjern River between Skjern and Tarm - first by fords and later by wooden bridges, which were often destroyed by the strong current and wear and tear from carts and horses.

The Medieval Road
The Medieval Road was the oldest route. It followed Petersmindevej and led across the river where King Hans' Bridge is now located. The first road bridge dates to 1105 and is marked by the remains of a couple of posts. Close to this route is “King Hans’ Hollow,” where King Hans was thrown from his horse in 1513 and later died from the fever he contracted.

The King’s Road
Built further east, this road was called the King’s Road because the king and his armies used it when travelling. The improved road and the sturdier bridges could handle the increased and heavier traffic of wagons and herds of cattle being driven from Northwest Jutland to the markets south. The largest bridge, the King’s Road Bridge, at 90 meters, was Denmark’s longest wooden bridge at the time. The oak timber for the bridge had to be brought from the royal forests in East Jutland, as West Jutland had almost no forests at that time.

Recent Connections
Main Road A11 opened in 1850, a straight, modern country road with rubble and gravel, connecting the towns of Holstebro, Skjern/Tarm, Varde, and Ribe.
The West Jutland Railway Line opened in 1875, mainly to transport farm products - especially butter and bacon as well as herds of cattle that had previously been driven on foot - to Port Esbjerg, built in 1868.

 

Skjern Through the Ages

The Bridge Town
In the Middle Ages, the western part of the wide Skjern River Valley had several crossing points - fords, tow ferries, and bridges. The most important crossing was between Skjern and Tarm, which led to the formation of a town. People and livestock needed a rest and refreshment at the inn before crossing, travellers had to pay tolls, postal services were stationed here, and judicial functions were handled here. So this was the cradle of Skjern.
But in the latter half of the 1800s, Skjern Bridge Town lost its importance as a road junction. The new main road and later the railway led traffic around the area, causing institutions and residents to relocate.

The Church Town
At Skjern Church, about 1 km north of Skjernbro Lund, several roads met. With the construction of improved roads, an important traffic junction emerged, and by the mid-1800s, several traders and craftsmen had settled and started businesses here.

The Railway Town
The West Jutland Railway Line opened in 1875, with a connection to Herning/Skanderborg added in 1881. The railway station was built just under a kilometer north of the church, and it spurred population growth and economic development. A new town formed with family homes, traders, craftsmen, banks, law offices, and small industries, mainly linked to agriculture, the backbone of the region. Skjern’s population doubled in the decades following the arrival of the railway and accelerated when it became Denmark’s last market town in 1958.