A bit of Anhult history

By Karin Gustavsson City Antiquarian Hbg

Ånalt Anhult, both spellings used in parallel, on maps and other official documents throughout the 1900s

Place names ending in -hult may originate from the Middle Ages. The word HULT means forest or grove, and the name suffix is very common in the Örkelljunga area. The prefix An- refers to Pinnan.

The area is poor in ancient remains, and probably the area has always been sparsely populated, Remains of equal production and charring have been observed in the surroundings. At Pinnan, right next to the place where the wool spinning mill once stood, there is a greater presence of wolverine slag. Low-tech iron production existed in the area already during the Jämage, and continued well into the 1600s. The raw material came from the lakes and wetlands.

Pinnin has been utilized as a power source in many places. In Gillberg’s description of Christianstad County from 1767, four mills are mentioned at Västra Spång and two at Östra Spång. At Västra Spång there is also a rammer and a saw. In a note, Gillberg writes ”Anciently has here warit Mas-furnace and stinging hammer as af Enemy blifwit Ruined, deck appears the place and is still called the mill.”

Grain cultivation has never been the main part of agriculture in the area, but animal husbandry has been the most important. According to the 1663 land register, butter was the most important tax item, which shows the great importance of animal husbandry. Arable land was described as ”sharp”, i.e. lean, or ”weak”. The yield of grain cultivation was low, in the 1700s you got 3-4 grains of rye and came. Other crops were flax and hops, which were grown for household needs.

Since agriculture has never been able to be the main industry in the area, trade and crafts have been important sources of income. Selling construction timber, firewood and other forest products to city and village residents, the people of the Örkelljunga area acquired additional necessities. Unwise logging, which did not provide for regrowth, took a heavy toll on the forests. In Linnaeus’ Skánska resa 1749, Norra Asbo härad is described as follows: barren slopes, covered with heather and bracken, and emaciated fields with the poor spring rage.” Gillberg writes in 1767 ”The county is generally sterile that the Inwänarena must sell for their supplies much grain, but on the other hand sell timber, boards, battens, all kinds of öckare work (cooperage work), some hops, much and good wävnad af wool and linen, butter, cheese, Chreatur, some On ashes and cabbage, according to the nature of the ortema.” The production of potash and coal was very timber-intensive, and further depleted the forests. Coal was needed, among other things, for iron production.

The oldest written evidence of the name is 1810, when the name is mentioned in a household examination register. The cairns that can be observed on the fields closest to the houses in are the cultivation islands, which are probably not of very high age. Today, land is used as pasture, but previously here has been Åker. According to the County Administrative Board in 1996, the cultivation cairns around Lärkesholm are of advanced age, prehistoric-medieval. During the 1900s, many holiday homes and summer colonies were established in the Örkelljunga area. The forest air was considered healthy and invigorating. A former owner of the property Analt tried to sell it as a summer colony.

Ullspinneriet-Finns mentioned in Skåne’s trade and address calendar from this year 1900, Bgdes dá by J Larsson. In addition, there was then a sawmill in Östra Spång

From the property documents (interpreted by Widar Narvelo): In 1915, Harald Carl Clausen sold a piece of land from his homestead castle Östra Spång no. 1-3. Among other things, a piece of land was included with the buyer’s, Carl Johan Bengtsson, father’s (Pontus Bengtsson) cottage apartment. Pontus’ wife was Johanna and Carl’s name was Gerda Elin. They had one daughter: Gurli, Karla Maria. Carl was born in 1887, married Gerda in 1917 and he died in 1942 at the age of 55. The crofting contract was drawn up in 1893 with 49 years of usufruct. The sold area was called the First Shift. The area was then 25 hectares and 99 years. In the southwest, part of the property has later been subdivided according to the original map 1956-05-27, Dnr 16/56. At the time of entry it is stated that there was a wool spinning mill. The neighbors are called Arvid Jannesson in the south, G Pålsson in the west. A hay barn is said to have existed at the so-called Ridges. The buyer was granted the right to cut peat on a nearby bog. The purchase price was SEK 6,500.

According to the description of the legal splitting of Westra Spång 1-3 in 1889, it appears, among other things, that there was a road to the village’s common Alfiske, a road to the village’s common mill fall and a road to the bog plots, further a stream trickle through the rivers to ”Anhultsån”. The wool spinning mill is also mentioned here. This according to Ingrid Persson, County Land Survey 1961 (?) 

The property included a drainage loan in Asljungasjön’s water diversion company of 1922.

A certificate of encumbrance n4 460/44 1944-07-18 states that the property is also troubled by another mortgage in 1905; with the right to Emma Möller to mooring and fishing in Hjälmsjön.

Östra Spång 4-16 was 5/48 mantal litt Aaaa no. 4.

According to an older membership book for Skåne’s forest owners’ association, the productive forest land amounts to 19 hectares. HD bought the property Östra Spång 4-16, in 1944 with renewal in 1955 and in 1956 permission was requested from the Royal Majesty (the state e.g. the county administrative board, the Ministry of Agriculture) to acquire the property.

In 1948, the HD Leisure Colony Foundation was established. The property Östra Spång 4-16 was acquired for SEK 20,500. The Anhult Summer Colony Foundation was formed by HD, Helsingborg’s Lucia Committee and Sällskapet Värluft. The purpose was to prepare free summer stays for needy preschool children in Helsingborg.

The pension foundation Anhult was registered with the County Administrative Board in 1959. In the statutes of 1959, the name is given to the Anhult Foundation with the purpose of providing employees and their families with recreation and rest. HD AB sold the property in 1961 to the foundation for SEK 29,000. The transfer was approved by the Royal Majt the same year and signed by Gösta Netzén, later County Governor of M-County.

 Litteraturtips: Bringéus Nils-Arvid 1992 Ingeborrarps open-air museum (-Ingebjörns torp) Bringéus NA 1993 Rya old church Bringéus NA 1983 Travel drivers and sequestrians (about trade in earlier times) Buhrgard L 1981 Torpen on Lärkesholm Kinell A and M Malmborg 1987 Basket making in Örkelljungabygden Lantmäteriet 1985 Skåne reconnaissance map 1810s County Administrative Board 1996 From Bjäre to Österlen Skåne’s Natural and Cultural Environments Swedish National Heritage Board 2002: GEOARCHAEOLOGY Dnr 423-2265-2002 Blasting during the 1500-1600s in Östra Spång E4 project in Skåne, area V24:1 Sjöbeck M 1947 Commons Kulla fallen Sjöbeck 1973.

The history and care of the southern Swedish landscape Emanuelsson et al 2002 The Scanian cultural landscape Örkelljunga municipality 1998 Nature conservation plan.