14: The Squire's Farm
Væbnergården i Dalby set fra Fynshovedvej med kirken i baggrunden, ca. 1930. I dag er væbnergården genopført i Den Fynske Landsby.
Fra Væbnergårdens gårdsplads. Væbnergården er i dag genopført i Den Fynske Landsby.
Væbnergården i Den Fynske Landsby, set fra luften.
Væbnergårdens stuehus, nu i Den Fynske landsby.
Væbnergården i Dalby, før den blev flyttet til Den Fynske Landsby.
Intro
To the east of the path that leads past the Village's fields lies the Squire's Farm (no. 14), hidden from view. The farm functions today as a staff residence and is therefore not open to the public.
The Squire's Farm is presumably very old. A survey report from 1751 describes a dwelling house with a cross wing that in many respects resembles the existing house. This report mentions that the farm is somewhat dilapidated, so the house must have been old even then; it was probably built before 1700.
The age of the house can, for example, be read in the very large dimensions of the oak timbers used in the posts and mid-rails of the timber framing. These point in the direction of the Renaissance building style.
Approximately in the middle of the house's north façade, a building of four bays extends out, a so-called cross wing, which was fitted out as a parlour.
The dwelling house is also extended with an outshot which was established prior to 1826. The outshot made the building wider and thereby made it possible for the house to be divided up into rooms longitudinally instead of exclusively transversely. The extra room was used to divide the traditional living room's many functions into several rooms – these were sleeping chambers, kitchen and dairy in addition to a separate parlour.
Between 1473 and 1542, there is mention of a Squire's Farm in Dalby. Legend has it that this farm was once inhabited by Marsk (i.e Lord High Constable) Stig Andersen's squire, Mads Jyde. In the 13th century, Marsk Stig held the manor of Scheelenborg – so the story is not completely impossible, but it is not known whether this farm was the same as The Funen Village's Squire's Farm.
The Squire's Farm was a copyhold farm under the neighbouring manor of Scheelenborg right up until 1917.
We know more about the inhabitants of later times. In 1787, the farm was leased to Jens Andersen, who lived there with his wife and six children from a previous marriage. One of the sons, Lars Rasmussen, became the next copyholder on the farm, around 1809.
Lars died in 1825 and his wife, Johanne Larsdatter, married again after a few months to Peder Larsen. It needed two people to run a farm so it was very common for people to marry again quickly. Johanne and Peder were copyholders on the farm until 1866, when their daughter, Maren, and son-in-law, Lars, took over. Johanne Larsdatter continued to live on the farm as a pensioner until her death – she lived to be over 83. Lars and Maren remained the sitting copyholders on the Squire's Farm. When it was sold as freehold in 1917, it was their son Laurits Larsen who bought the farm.