Malling Church

Facts

The only church moat in Denmark

By Jørgen Frandsen, Arkitekt MAA, fra afdeling for restaurering, by og byfornyelse ved Arkitektskolen i Aarhus. (2 stories)

The original moat surrounding Malling Church is from pre-1200. At a later stage, a defensive trench was dug outside of the moat. In the first half of the 1300s, the moat was heavily reinforced with natural and split boulders set in lime mortar. At the same period, in the south-eastern corner, a tower was built with an external diameter of 10.5 metres. Access to the churchyard is by a gate immediately west of the tower, and a narrow passageway in the western churchyard wall. The reinforced churchyard walls were torn down in 1943 as part of a project to expand the churchyard, with the exception of the south-eastern corner. To the west, the original church moat from pre-1200 has survived.

Public place

Selected entry

The fortified churchyard walls

Story written by Jørgen Frandsen

Time / Periode 1200 1350

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The fortification of Malling churchyard is the only known example of its kind in Denmark. The fortifications are thought to have had a wide catchment area, as a large number of men would have been needed to defend them. The large tower in the south-eastern corner of the fortification would have been able to defend two of the churchyard flanks and the wide entrance gate to the churchyard. The floor of the tower contained many burials, indicating that the tower was also a sacred building, presumably a chapel of rest. At some stage in the 1300s, the preserved western churchyard wall had its fortifications removed. Outside the walls, the moat has been reconstructed along a distance of 50 metres.