THE NORTH 6

[Tom Sawyer]

North 8 "Town Charter" sounds to myself like dreams of the future. But whenever I finish the Viking update, it will be the logical next step. For the town hall I picked the one from Sigtuna and already made a basic sketch some time ago. Here is a picture. If you have more ideas, please show!

[darnokthemage]

https://imgur.com/a/8OPRNn2



We have this really beautiful building in Skellefteå called nyborg, that was built 1764 for a captain of the town garrison.

[Tom Sawyer]

They are both nice too. What I like at the Sigtuna town hall is its tower which makes it distinguishable from my village hall.

Searching for Skellefteå I found photos from these old and simple town houses. Are not they very "banished"? 

[darnokthemage]

They are from Bonnstan, which means Farmers-town and is houses the farmers lived in when going to church. I would love to go and get some pictures for them if you want.

[Tom Sawyer]

What does that mean, they only lived there sometimes and actually in their farmsteads? A secondary residence in the city?

[darnokthemage]

I'll copy from their site

Bonnstan – the Farmers town and it's history

Skellefteå Church Town "Bonnstan" is one of the most well preserved 19th Century Church Towns of its kind and remains pretty much unchanged since it was built between 1830 and 1840.

Families who lived miles away and therefore had to travel far to attend the Sunday masses at the city church built a Church Town only as a temporary home. Church towns were built near almost every church in Västerbotten, Norrbotten and the Finnish region of Österbotten.

The Church Town has existed since the 17th century and is a result of the Swedish conformist movement and the dawn of the Protestant Church in 1527. The Church was looking to achieve an effective education of Christianity among the Swedish population as described in Luther's writings. This resulted in a demand of continuous visits to the church with rigorous tests performed by the local priests at people's own homes.

So, as the people now had to come to church every Sunday and obviously also on all the religious holidays, those demands had greater impact on people who lived up here in the North compared to those in the South and their shorter distances.  Unsurprisingly, those great distances caused more people in the north to fail in their education.  This led in 1681 to an agreement between the priests and the village leaders called "the Church Ride". This meant that the people who lived within 10 kilometres from a church had to attend every Sunday and that those that had between 10 and 20 kilometres should attend every other Sunday. If you had 20 to 30 km you should visit every third Sunday and so on.

A social meaning also came forward during these weekends when people gathered in the Church Town. Among the usual messages of a religious context read out by the priest, there was also information about upcoming markets. In the Church Town itself people exchanged gossip from all over the area. For many, this was the only way to meet others outside the family and here, many young people met and relationships as well as job opportunities were established. In fact, the tradition of socialising in the Church Towns grew so strong that it continued long after the Church Plight ended during the middle of the 19th Century.


The oldest writings about this Church Town in particular are from the year 1637. Today, we know it burnt down in 1672 but was immediately rebuilt. During the 18th Century it was said that it consisted of up to 300 cottages with additional stables and sheds. In 1835 a fire once again burnt most of the Church Town to the ground. That year it was decided that the new little town should be erected slightly to the East of where it originally stood and this came to be the Church Town that today we call "Bonnstan" (e.g. The Farmers' Town). The new name came about in 1854 to separate it from the newly instated city of Skellefteå.

Today, Bonnstan has 116 cottages that consist of 392 chambers or 'flats' and an additional three stables. The larger houses consist of up to eight chambers – four on each floor and with a shared entrance, whereas the smaller houses mainly contain two to four chambers.

Additionally, further north of the town an area of church stables belonged to the Bonnstan area. Apart from three stables, these are today long gone as some have been demolished and some were burnt down.

The Church Plight was relieved in the 1850's, but the tradition stayed on for another few decenniums. From the 1920's and onwards as the roads and vehicles improved in the area it was no longer necessary to stay overnight in Bonnstan when visiting town or the church. Bonnstan therefore started to deteriorate slowly, as wooden houses normally do when they aren't taken care of, and sadly many cottages were demolished and sold as firewood.

Between 1977 and 1986 Bonnstan was finally renovated according to old writings and journals in order to regain its 19th century features. The private ownership of the different chambers remains as before and the owners know that together they share this magnificent piece of history between them, leaving great responsibility for the care of preserving Bonnstan for the future. During the two seasonal festivities that are Midsummer and the 'Church Weekend', Bonnstan truly comes to life again as in the old days.

http://bonnstan.se/english/

[Abandoned]

 How interesting, thanks for sharing    and I agree, the buildings look very much "Banished"

[brads3]

nice write up. sometimes history gets confused. thinking what was practical,i wonder if originally people went and stayed for a month at a time during the holiday seasons.which fit the crop schedules of the farmers.this would make more sence than farmers traveling every few weeks for a day. it reads like the priest went out to various farms in the beginning.which he could have done in the months without holidays. back then a trip to town could take days just to travel. with cars we have become spoiled by how far and fast we can travel. 

[darnokthemage]

My family actually has a chamber in it, so it is close to my heart.

[darnokthemage]

Don't have any pictures of it sadly. 

[darnokthemage]

So, any other news?

[Tom Sawyer]

I just finished the new infirmary. You can download and build it for your sick people from here. Wishing you a great first advent!

[RedKetchup]

look great as everything you do @Tom Sawyer 

[theonlywanderer]

Very nice addition!

Not long ago I played a full map with your North 6 and it played out quite well.

[Tom Sawyer]

Going through the dark valley of Blender now to fight this four-headed monster. I have nothing except my ragged clothes and a little mouse. Not sure if I will survive... Wish me luck or see you in Valhalla.