Esrum Å is the principal drainage of
Lake Esrum
A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much larger ...
, Denmark's second largest lake, located in
Gribskov Municipality
Gribskov Kommune is a municipality ( Danish, '' kommune'') in Region Hovedstaden ("Capital Region"). The municipality covers an area of 278 km², and has a total population of 40,850 (1 April 2014).
The municipality was created on 1 January ...
, some 50 km north of
Copenhagen
Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...
,
Denmark
)
, song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast")
, song_type = National and royal anthem
, image_map = EU-Denmark.svg
, map_caption =
, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Kingdom of Denmark
, establish ...
. The 10-km-long stream extends from the northwestern part of the lake and flows past
Esrum Watermill and
Esrum Abbey
Esrum Abbey, also Esrom Abbey ( da, Esrum or ), was the second Cistercian monastery founded in Denmark, located near Hillerød in Region Hovedstaden, on the island of Zealand (Sjælland), on the north side of the Esrum Sø (Lake Esrum) near Es ...
on its way to
The Kattegat at
Dronningmølle
Dronningmølle () is a seaside resort town in Esbønderup parish, Gribskov Municipality in the Capital Region of Denmark, of eastern Denmark. Dronningmølle is located four kilometers west of Hornbæk, six kilometers east of Gilleleje and 22 kilo ...
.
Esrum Canal (Danish: Esrum Kanal) was built in about 1800 to facilitate the transportation of firewood from
Gribskov to Copenhagen, offering a navigable alternative to the upper part of Rsrum Å. It remained in use until the 1870s but has now dried out.
History
Esrum Watermill was probably built in the 12th century and belonged to Esrum Abbey until the Reformation when it was confiscated by the Crown. The upper part of the stream was regulated in the beginning of the 16th century at the initiative of
Christian IV
Christian IV (12 April 1577 – 28 February 1648) was King of Denmark and Norway and Duke of Holstein and Schleswig from 1588 until his death in 1648. His reign of 59 years, 330 days is the longest of Danish monarchs and Scandinavian monar ...
, probably to give the watermill more power.
At the turn of the 19th century, the
English Wars made it difficult to transport firewood from Norway which was still part of the Danish kingdom. To facilitate the transportation of firewood from Gribskov to Copenhagen, it was decided to construct a canal between Lake Esrum and the sea at
Dronningmølle
Dronningmølle () is a seaside resort town in Esbønderup parish, Gribskov Municipality in the Capital Region of Denmark, of eastern Denmark. Dronningmølle is located four kilometers west of Hornbæk, six kilometers east of Gilleleje and 22 kilo ...
. The work was led by Adolph von der Recke and carried out by local peasants, soldiers and forced labour workers. Construction began in 1802 and the canal was completed in 1805.
The canal was 9 km long, 9 m wide and 1.5 m deep. A
towpath
A towpath is a road or trail on the bank of a river, canal, or other inland waterway. The purpose of a towpath is to allow a land vehicle, beasts of burden, or a team of human pullers to tow a boat, often a barge. This mode of transport w ...
ran on the banks of the canal and on the western shores of lake Esrum. The timber had to pass a 4-metre crater-like ramp called ''Væltningen'', which connected the upper section of the canal to its lower part. In Dronningmølle, the firewood was loaded onto large cargo ships and sailed to Copenhagen.
The upper part of the canal passed two ponds. One of them, Storedam (Great Pond), was the site of a watermill which was first used as backup for the gunpowder mill in
Frederiksværk
Frederiksværk is a town with a population of 12,718 (1 January 2022) in Halsnæs Municipality on Zealand in Region Hovedstaden in Denmark.
History
A French cannon founder, Peyrembert, received permission to build a cannon factory here. Having g ...
during the
English Wars and later for the manufacturing of textiles for the army. Transportation of firewood on the canal continued until 1874 and it was later used for leisure trips. It has now dried out and been covered by forest, but Væltningen and other elements are still visible in the landscape.
Ecology
Characteristic plant species include
large bittercress (''Cardamine amara''),
marsh-marigold (''Caltha palustris'') and
yellow iris
''Iris pseudacorus'', the yellow flag, yellow iris, or water flag, is a species of flowering plant in the family Iridaceae. It is native to Europe, western Asia and northwest Africa. Its specific epithet ''pseudacorus'' means "false acorus", ref ...
.
See also
*
Mølleåen
Mølleåen, also Mølleå, sometimes translated as the Millstream, is a small river in North Zealand, Denmark, which runs from the west of Bastrup Sø near Lynge to the Øresund between Taarbæk and Skodsborg. The valley contains several country ...
References
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Esrum A
Gribskov Municipality
Rivers of Zealand