To do Attractions History and culture

The church monument in Bosgård

The church monument in Bosgård is a splendid and magnificent stone monument that marks the first church in Urshult. The name then was Hwam.

To do Attractions History and culture

The church monument in Bosgård

The church monument in Bosgård is a splendid and magnificent stone monument that marks the first church in Urshult. The name then was Hwam.

The church site in Bosgård is excellent with a magnificent stone monument. There once stood the first churches or the church of Urshult, which was then called Hwam. The exact location is unclear, but according to oral tradition and written documents it appears that the cemetery was located just south of the current manor building.

A lawyer Folke Karlsson donates a field to the church in Hvam in 1282. From 1667 and the oldest antiquities inventory made in Sweden, it is told about a large hollow oak that stands in the cemetery in Bosgård's yard. Carl Nilsson, who was the owner of the farm during the decades around the turn of the century in the 1700s and 1800s, dug in the cemetery and found graves laid in an east-west direction with flat stone slabs (see the raised stone). The oldest document known from this area is from 1289 – 1290. It concerns a dispute and an excommunication.

Bishop Bo in Växjö writes to the judicial chapter in Uppsala that the person in question must meet at the Hvam manor (Min ämbetsborg Hvam). In 1423 we find the parish name Urshult for the first time. It is likely that the church was then in its current location in Urshultsviken. The youngest church was burned by Danish warriors in the 15th century. A remaining stone reminds of the oldest cemetery, a bell tower, a stone altar and a stone cross that services are still celebrated at the site in summer.

Within sight, on Bos Holme in Åsnen, there are hidden remains of a defensive castle, which the bishop of Växjö is said to have used to protect trade routes to the south.

Contact information

  • Bosgård - 360 13 - Urshult
  • Tingsryd