Eskelhem is a populated area, a socken (not to be confused with

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or m ...

), on the Swedish island of

Gotland Gotland (, ; ''Gutland'' in Gutnish), also historically spelled Gottland or Gothland (), is Sweden's largest island. It is also a province, county, municipality, and diocese. The province includes the islands of Fårö and Gotska Sandön to the ...

. The area is rural with farms. It comprises the same area as the

administrative Administration may refer to: Management of organizations * Management, the act of directing people towards accomplishing a goal ** Administrative Assistant, traditionally known as a Secretary, or also known as an administrative officer, administ ...

Eskelhem District, established on 1January 2016.

Geography

Eskelhem is the name of the socken as well as the district. It is also the name of the small village surrounding the medieval Eskelhem Church, sometimes referred to as ''Eskelhem kyrkby''. It is in the west part of central Gotland, south of

Visby Visby () is an urban area in Sweden and the seat of Gotland Municipality in Gotland County on the island of Gotland with 24,330 inhabitants . Visby is also the episcopal see for the Diocese of Visby. The Hanseatic city of Visby is arguably th ...

. The area consists of a farmed plain surrounded by forests. The area of the socken is of which is land. , Eskelhem Church belongs to Eskelhem-Tofta

in Eskelhems pastorat, along with the churches in Tofta and

Gnisvärd Gnisvärd (also referred to as Gnisvärd and Smågårde), is a fishing village in Tofta on the central west coast of the island of Gotland, Sweden. Gnisvärd is mostly known for its stone ships and harbor. Geography Gnisvärd is a small fish ...

History

The earliest archaeological finds in Eskelhem are remains of

Stone Age The Stone Age was a broad prehistoric period during which stone was widely used to make tools with an edge, a point, or a percussion surface. The period lasted for roughly 3.4 million years, and ended between 4,000 BC and 2,000 BC, with t ...

settlements. There are also several

Bronze Age The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second pri ...

grave mounds and

cairn A cairn is a man-made pile (or stack) of stones raised for a purpose, usually as a marker or as a burial mound. The word ''cairn'' comes from the gd, càrn (plural ). Cairns have been and are used for a broad variety of purposes. In prehis ...

s. The most significant find, a Bronze Age horse harness, was made in a mound by the

rectory A clergy house is the residence, or former residence, of one or more priests or ministers of religion. Residences of this type can have a variety of names, such as manse, parsonage, rectory or vicarage. Function A clergy house is typically ow ...

. Sixteen grave fields and three hillforts from the

Iron Age The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age (Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age (Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostly appl ...

are within the boundaries of the socken. Stones with grind grooves have also been found. A total of about 600 archaeological sites have been found at Eskelhem. The history of the present-day locality goes back to the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

. It is referred to in Medieval rune inscription as ''yskilaim''. The meaning of the first part of the name is unclear and the last part ''haim'' or ''hem'' means "dwelling", "farm" or in this case "settlement". In 1897, a railway was built from

Klintehamn Klintehamn () is a locality in Klinte on the Swedish island of Gotland with 1,350 inhabitants in 2010. Transportation Klintehamn is a shipping port on the west coast of Gotland where timber and agricultural products are shipped to mainland Swede ...

Romakloster Roma (), also by proxy referred to as Romakloster, is a locality on the Swedish island of Gotland, with 936 inhabitants in 2014. Roma is also the name of the larger populated area, ''socken'' (not to be confused with parish). It comprises the sam ...

for transporting

sugar beet A sugar beet is a plant whose root contains a high concentration of sucrose and which is grown commercially for sugar production. In plant breeding, it is known as the Altissima cultivar group of the common beet (''Beta vulgaris''). Together wi ...

s to the sugar refinery in

Roma Roma or ROMA may refer to: Places Australia * Roma, Queensland, a town ** Roma Airport ** Roma Courthouse ** Electoral district of Roma, defunct ** Town of Roma, defunct town, now part of the Maranoa Regional Council *Roma Street, Brisbane, a ...

. One of the stations along that line was Tjuls in Eskelhem, where a station house was built. The station was in use until 1953, when the passenger service on the line ceased. During that time, five

station master The station master (or stationmaster) is the person in charge of a railway station, particularly in the United Kingdom and many other countries outside North America. In the United Kingdom, where the term originated, it is now largely historical ...

s, three of which were women, served at Tjuls. The railway continued in operation for goods traffic until 1960. Today, the station house is a small railway museum.

References

External links

Objects from Eskelhem at the Digital Museum
by

Nordic Museum The Nordic Museum ( sv, Nordiska museet) is a museum located on Djurgården, an island in central Stockholm, Sweden, dedicated to the cultural history and ethnography of Sweden from the early modern period (in Swedish history, it is said to be ...

{{Authority control Populated places in Gotland County Tourism in Sweden Agriculture in Sweden