Nordby is a village on the island of

Samsø Samsø (Anglicized: "Samso" or "Samsoe") is a Denmark, Danish island in the Kattegat off the Jutland Peninsula. Samsø is located in Samsø municipality. The community has 3,724 inhabitants (2017) (January 2010:4,010) called ''Samsings'' and is ...

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 = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark ...

. It is located in

Samsø Municipality Samsø Municipality is a municipality (Danish: '' kommune'') in Region of Central Denmark. Samsø municipality covers an area of 115 km2 in the Kattegat sea, between the Danish mainland of Jutland and Zealand and comprises the island of Sams ...

Nordby Bell Tower

Nordby Church was built in the 1200s, but not in or near Nordby. Instead it was built centrally between the four villages of Samsø's north island: Nordby, Mårup, Søby and Glistrup. Søby and Glistrup no longer exist. The church's distance from Nordby meant that the villagers were unable to hear the church bell, so a bell tower was built in the 1600s in the center of Nordby, on a small plaza known locally as ''Galgepladsen''. This plaza is also where the village's

pillory The pillory is a device made of a wooden or metal framework erected on a post, with holes for securing the head and hands, formerly used for punishment by public humiliation and often further physical abuse. The pillory is related to the stocks ...

was located until 1820. The current version of the village's bell tower was built in 1857. Other than church events, the bell tower also rang to warn against fires or when an animal was butchered and its meat sold on the plaza. Until 2011 the

gravedigger A gravedigger is a cemetery worker who is responsible for digging a grave prior to a funeral service. Description If the grave is in a cemetery on the property of a church or other religious organization (part of, or called, a churchyard), g ...

of Nordby Church rang the bell. Today an organisation of volunteers, known as ''Ringelauget'', ring the bell. Visitsamsoe.dk
"Nordbys berømte klokketårn" Retrieved 11 August 2020

References

Samsø Samsø Municipality Cities and towns in the Central Denmark Region Villages in Denmark {{CentralDK-stub