Hejrede Vold

Facts

Iron Age lakeside embankment

By Per Ole Rindel, Lektor, Ph.D., Købehavn Universitet (12 stories)

Hejrede Vold is an Iron Age embankment that stretches between the lakes near Maribo. It was 1.3 kilometres long and linked Hejrede Lake to the north with Røgbølle Lake to the south. Today, only the northernmost 300 metres of the embankment are visible. The embankment was once between 1.5 and 3.5 metres tall. Once, a 1.75 metre deep, flat-bottomed moat ran along the eastern side of the embankment. The defences are relatively high around Kårup Vænger. The west side of the embankment has a round extension, which may have been the foundation for a tower.

Public place

Selected entry

Iron Age security

Story written by Per Ole Rindel

Time / Periode 200 700

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Hejrede Vold is not alone. Just 3.5 kilometres to the west is a shorter, almost identical, embankment. This embankment also connects two lakes. The two embankments therefore defined an entire area of land. The lakes provided natural protection to the north and south. Together, the two embankments and the lakes meant the Iron Age locals could live in relative peace and quiet. Hejrede Vold has never been formally dated but the embankment is very irregular. This suggests it was not built in the Middle Ages. Maribo Museum carried out excavations at Hejrede Vold in the 1990s. Some charred branches were recovered from the bottom of the moat and carbon-14 dated as being from circa 550. This confirms that it was probably an Iron Age construction.