History English

The history of Skerrildgaard dates back to the Middle Ages, where there was, among other things, a shooting tower on a small earthwork.

The farm was a tenancy under Tirsbæk until the mid-16th century. The later history of the farm is particularly characterized by the owner Hans de Hofman from 1744.

The main building was constructed in 1766 and, together with the farm buildings, forms a four-winged complex.

Ownership History

Skerrildgaard was, until the mid-16th century, a common leasehold farm, under the dominion of the Tirsbæk manor. However, a moated site in the garden bears witness to the existence of a so-called shooting tower during the Middle Ages, where people could seek refuge.

In the 16th century, the farm was owned by the Lunge family of Tirsbæk and inhabited by various leasehold farmers. Iver Lunge, in the 1560s, once again elevated Skerrildgaard to a noble manor. In 1614, Skerrildgaard, along with Tirsbæk, passed to Lisbeth Bryske, who married into the prestigious noble Bille family. Lisbeth Bryske was famous in her time and in subsequent years for her books on weapons and genealogy.

Her eldest son, Mogens Bille, became a steward at Koldinghus after traveling abroad, but he died at the young age of 31. Afterward, it took 14 years before the younger brother, Knud Bille, returned from his own travels abroad and took over Skerrildgaard following his father’s death.

Skerrildgaard’s history is particularly associated with its owner, Hans Dreyer Hofman, who later changed his name to the French-inspired Hans de Hofman. He married into wealth and bought Skerrildgaard from his father. The industrious Hans de Hofman was involved in planning the cultivation of the Jutland heath and worked to promote agricultural reforms in Vejle county. He also renewed the local church’s furnishings and, along with his wife, was buried beneath the church floor in 1793.

By this time, he had long since sold Skerrildgaard to the new owner of Tirsbæk, Jørgen Hvas. Thus, Skerrildgaard was once again reunited with Tirsbæk, but rumors circulated in the region. Jørgen Hvas had been a bailiff on one of Tirsbæk’s other farms and had married the widow of the former noble owner. The new lady was of humble origins and had been a poultry girl before becoming the new mistress of the farm. When Jørgen Hvas sought to be ennobled, an investigation of the entire situation was initiated, but he was ennobled in 1763, now known as Jørgen Hvas de Lindenpalm, and his new coat of arms still hangs over the entrance of Skerrildgaard.

The leasehold farms at Skerrildgaard were sold to farmers as freehold properties early on, and in 1790, it was the turn of the main estate, which was sold to a consortium that divided the land and sold the main parcel with Skerrildgaard.

A few years later, Skerrildgaard came into the possession of Inger Christensdatter, who married four times before the farm had to be auctioned off in 1825 due to an agricultural crisis. At that time, Skerrildgaard was acquired by an Englishman, but soon his sister’s German husband had to take over.

His name was Johann Heinrich Hoffmann, and he had a terrible reputation. His wife, Mary Thornton, claimed to be quite unhappy in her marriage: “Lonely, joyless, rarely loved, as my warm heart desired, my life has passed, as long as I can remember. The one for whom my being seemed created was torn from me by fate; the one to whom I belong has no sense of what I am and what I could tell him…” That’s how she wrote about her life as a lady in the 1800s.

Since then, Skerrildgaard has changed hands several times, no longer belonging to nobility, and in the 20th century, it has been owned by the Tingleff family for over 100 years. In 2021, Skerrildgaard is owned by Claus Tingleff.

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