Kjaergaard Mill
In addition to the story of a watermill, Kjærgaard Mølle is also the story of Kilen tunnel valley, settlement in Denmark's Neolithic age, main roads and cave roads and a Nature School in a great collaboration between Lemvig and Struer municipalities, Nr. Nissum Seminarium and the West Jutland Nature Agency since 1977.
During the last ice age, the main ice line was southwest of Kjærgaards Mølle and glacial meltwater was pushed through the Kilen tunnel valley and out at Kobbelhøje at a height of approximately 50 meters above current sea level.
The gate to the souls of the dead
People settled on the site as early as the Neolithic Age, and aerial photographs have revealed two cult sites on the small headland south of Bredkjær Bæk. The cult sites were enclosed by wooden palisades. Along the palisades, ditches were dug. Palisades and ditches were intended to demarcate the cult site from the rest of the world. In similar finds elsewhere, ditches often contain finds of human bones. So the sites probably functioned as a kind of temporary burial site, a sacred area reserved for the souls of the dead in a funeral cult.
The Ancient Road – The Bronze Age Highway
The many ancient mounds on the plateau west and southeast of Kjærgaard Mill mark the ancient road, which from Dybe in the west follows the main line of the settlement, crosses Bredkjær Bæk at Kjærgaards Mølle, and continues towards Viborg via Ølby, Fousing and north of Holstebro. Findings of old oak posts along the stream indicate bridge construction. Several deep potholes and wheel tracks can be seen in the hills. It was also here that the medieval country road and bullock cart road from Oddesund ran over Resen, Fousing, Asp to Krunderup, and from here further south to the large cattle markets.
Kjærgård Mill is also the story of a watermill
Kjærgaard Mølle was one of 7 watermills that belonged to the Benedictine nunnery at Stubber Sø until 1547. The substantial watermill with a rush wheel served a large area of land and was used by farmers as far away as Thyholm. In the mid-18th century, the watermill came into farmer ownership, and with 2 new mills and a grist mill for making groats, it enjoyed another heyday. In the late 19th century, a grocery store, inn, blacksmith and bakery were attached to the mill operation. However, in 1913, the mill building burned down. During World War I, a lack of electricity meant that a small turbine house was built and a turbine was installed that could supply power to the power plant in Fousing until World War II. The turbine house can still be seen together with the farmhouse from 1871. The head of the Nature School lives here.
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