Alböke church
Alböke church and cemetery is about 1 ½ miles north of Borgholm. The village and the church are located along the old route of the country road just east of what is today route 136.
The church is surrounded by farmland and there are several farms in the church village. The church In Alböke, a stone church was built sometime in the middle of the 1100th century, consisting of an apse, nave and west tower. When the threat from Baltic Vikings increased, an east tower was also built and the church was strengthened. It thus took the form of a gabled church. The Klövsadel church was built in an east-west direction with the choir in the east. The increase in population made the medieval church cramped and in 1859 it was decided to build a new church. The drawings were made by Albert Törnquist and the work was led by builder Peter Isberg, Algutsrum. The Klövsadel church remained while construction was underway and the new church was built perpendicular to it in a north-south direction. This meant that the choir and the sacristy were placed in the north. When the nave and chancel were ready, the medieval church was demolished and where its nave had previously stood, a new tower was built of the stone from the medieval church. The church was inaugurated in 1862. The new church is dominated both interior and exterior by neoclassical style features such as the round-arched windows, the bright church room and the wooden barrel vault of the interior ceiling. In the interior, however, there are also older style features represented by the fact that furnishings were transferred from the old church. Most prominent are the pulpit and the altar piece, both of which are from the end of the 1700th century and are made in Rococo style.
The armory in Alböke church
Picture: Anna Fendin Ahlström
Memory grove
Minneslunden is located northwest of the church. The site is surrounded by a tuja hedge but is open to the east. A pathway paved with tiles leads into the grove of memories. In the west stands a wooden cross. There is also a discount for roses and summer flowers. In the flowerbed is a large stone with a special appearance. It was found by a man named Söderberg in a bog in the village of Askelunda. Buildings To the west of the church is a smaller building built of stone, which today is used as a storeroom and guardhouse. The front of the building is clad with standing gray painted wooden panels. The carpentry is painted white and the roof covered with black sheet metal. The stone facades may be of older date, but the building is today heavily modernized. Outside the cemetery's northwest corner, flush with the cemetery wall, is a plastered building with standing wooden paneling in the gable. The plaster is discolored in white and the wooden panel is painted blue. Carpentry and doors are painted black.
Other
In the niche between the tower and the nave to the east of the church, a rune stone is set up. The upper part of the text is worn away. A small part of the text remains at the base of the stone. In the niche between the tower and the nave to the west of the church, part of the central column of the demolished medieval church stands. In the northern part of block A stands a sun visor. The slab is supported by another part of the central column of the demolished medieval church.
Source: Kalmar County Museum
The armory in Alböke church
Picture: Anna Fendin Ahlström
Memory grove
Minneslunden is located northwest of the church. The site is surrounded by a tuja hedge but is open to the east. A pathway paved with tiles leads into the grove of memories. In the west stands a wooden cross. There is also a discount for roses and summer flowers. In the flowerbed is a large stone with a special appearance. It was found by a man named Söderberg in a bog in the village of Askelunda. Buildings To the west of the church is a smaller building built of stone, which today is used as a storeroom and guardhouse. The front of the building is clad with standing gray painted wooden panels. The carpentry is painted white and the roof covered with black sheet metal. The stone facades may be of older date, but the building is today heavily modernized. Outside the cemetery's northwest corner, flush with the cemetery wall, is a plastered building with standing wooden paneling in the gable. The plaster is discolored in white and the wooden panel is painted blue. Carpentry and doors are painted black.
Other
In the niche between the tower and the nave to the east of the church, a rune stone is set up. The upper part of the text is worn away. A small part of the text remains at the base of the stone. In the niche between the tower and the nave to the west of the church, part of the central column of the demolished medieval church stands. In the northern part of block A stands a sun visor. The slab is supported by another part of the central column of the demolished medieval church.
Source: Kalmar County Museum