Tvorup church ruin

The sand drift is key in understanding the landscapes of Thy National Park. Tvorup Kirkeruin, located in a clearing in the dune plantation, bears witness to this. Visit the church ruin and imagine what it looked like before the sand drift.

Tvorup church

Tvorup church was built in the late 1100s as a typical Romanesque village church, built from carved granite ashlar stone and with an apse, choir and nave. Imagine that the buildings of the parish at that time consisted of farms and villages surrounded by fields. Around 1500, the sand drift began to affect the area, and it became increasingly difficult to cultivate the soil and to maintain an economic foundation for the parish. In the mid-1700s, sources report that the parish was almost depopulated and you could cross the sanded-up church dyke. The port was closed by the sand. In 1794, it was decided to make the parish part of Vang Sogn parish. The church was demolished, and permission was granted to recycle the building materials in Vang church, which, among other things, got a new porch. The chandelier from Tvorup still hangs in Vang church.

The ruins of Tvorup church are now a peaceful place very much worth visiting. Granite stone and remnants of the wall show the contours of the church, and the grass-covered former cemetery is surrounded by remnants of the old church dyke. The forest surrounding the ruins was laid out to stop the sand drift, and is thereby the latest chapter in the history of the ever-changing landscape.

Tvorup Hul

The road from Tvorup church ruin to the coast goes through the dune plantation and passes Tvorup Hul (hollow). The lake is named Tvorup Vestersø in the conservation order and on old maps. The lake is a small nutrient-poor dune lake of about 4 hectares situated in a hollow in the former dune landscape. The bottom is sand, the water is clear, and the lake has depths of up to 6 metres in the eastern part. The reason for the conservation order is the lake's interesting plant life, which, in addition to the rare species lobelia dortmanna, plantain shoreweed, spiny-spored quillwort, lake quillwort and water millfoil, also include awlwort. Conifers have been planted very close to the lakeside, but in recent years, the surroundings of the lake has been cleared, water drainage from forest ditches has been stopped and fences and grazing by cattle have been established around the lake. These conservation initiatives show off the beautiful dune lake at its best, ensure good water quality and provide nature experiences for hikers on the path around the lake.