Osby skansar, Naturreservat

Osby Skansar is beautifully situated on a hill between Helge å and Osbysjön. In this small reserve you will find unmarked paths that take you to the old defense facility Sibbarps skans from the 1600s. The oldest beech trees in the reserve have started to reach a respectable age. On the bark of the old trees, you can find rare lichens such as beech lichen and pincushion lichen. Parking is available at the Stavhultsgården homestead next door.

Old defense facility

The Osby Skansar nature reserve is beautifully situated on a hill between Helge å and Osbysjön, just south of Osby town. The reserve's name comes from the skans, an older type of defense facility, which was built in 1611 while Skåne still belonged to Denmark. The location was well chosen. From the hill, there was a good view of both the highway and the bridge over the River Helge å, which was to be guarded against invading Swedish troops. The old defense facility is called both Osby and Sibbarps skans or skansar.

Skansarna through the years

After its time as a defense facility, the area began to be used for agriculture instead. In the mid-19th century, the area around the entrenchment was much more open than today. The place was called Eket and it can be assumed that wide-crowned oaks were scattered in the area. Down towards the river were damp marshes with good grass growth, while the hill itself was thin, rocky and covered in heather. Parts of the area were used as meadows where hay was harvested. When meadow farming was abandoned, the whole area was used as grazed pasture, but in the early 1900s grazing also ceased. The area grew back and the oak woodland was transformed into the beech forest that greets the visitor today.

Old trees and biodiversity

The oldest beech trees in the reserve have started to reach a respectable age. On the bark of the old trees, you can find rare lichens such as beech lichen and pincushion lichen. Some of the trees are completely dead, which benefits various wood-boring insects and woodpeckers. Both green lizard and great spotted woodpecker occur in the reserve. They like to find high stumps and dry trees, where the larder of various insect larvae is well stocked. If you look closely at a high stump, you can see lots of small, round holes where beetles have crawled out after living as larvae inside the wood.

Hembygdsgården

Stavhultsgården is located immediately adjacent to the southwestern border of the reserve. The farm is a back ridge cottage from the 17th century, which was moved here in 1940 from Stavshult in Visseltofta parish. The cottage is now used as a local history museum.

Outdoor life

In this small reserve, which is nicely situated between Helge å and Osbysjön, there are unmarked trails that take you to Sibbarps skans. There is a parking lot at the homestead Stavhultsgården next to the nature reserve. Remember to take your rubbish home. Osby station is about 4 km north.

In English

Welcome to Osby Skansar Nature Reserve

Osby Skansar (Osby Forts) is today a calm oasis in which you can enjoy the stillness of the beech woodlands. However, this was once the site where a bitter border war played out. Between 1611 and 1613, the Danish had defences high up on the ridge in order to control the road between Sweden and Denmark that ran through here by the lake Osbysjön. From the fort the local farmers controlled the fording points across the river Helge Å that lay below.

From Woodland Pasture to Heath Beech Woodlands

Osby Skansar, otherwise known as Sibbarps Skans (Sibbarp's Fort), is just a couple of kilometers south of Osby, between the lake Osbysjön and the river Helge Å. The Swedish Society for Nature Conservation bought the land in 1916 and it was first protected as a natural monument in 1921 and then as a reserve in 1928.

Previously the area was part of the open cultivated landscape. Livestock grazed on heather-covered, rocky slopes with solitary oaks. When grazing ceased, the land grew once more. Trees appeared, and today there is a diverse beech woodland. Here and there are the remaining juniper bushes who can bear witness to the time when livestock shaped the landscape. Bilberry and wavy hair-grass dominate the meager moraine land.

In the middle of the woodland lies a wetter area in which there is birch carr with a couple of mirror-like ponds among the trees. In the eastern part of the reserve, there is a small summit where the grey-red granite bedrock is exposed. From here there is a beautiful view over the lake.

Battle at the Fort

On a day in September 1657, a group of Swedes came riding from the south. They had been in Skåne and were now on their way home. Here, by Sibbarps Skans, they met the Danish and their commander, Knud Ulfeldt. A bitter battle broke out, resulting in many deaths on both sides. A memorial stone was erected on the spot in order to honor the fallen, among them Knud Ulfeldt.

In the last ever Danish-Swedish war, the Swedes captured the fort from the local farmers, whom the Danish king, Christian IV, had tasked with defending the border. The ruins of the fort can still be seen in the Woodlands. At the center of the fort there are two stone cairns - created when the land was cleared of stones for cultivation - and a single tree.

Rural Museum and Ancient Meadows

There is a museum of rural life at the south-western boundary of the reserve. This is housed in an old cottage from the 17th century that was moved here from Stavshult. If you gaze over the river you can look out over Hasslaröds Ängar (Hasslaröd Meadows). These are areas that flood and were once used for hay-making, but have now been allowed to become overgrown.

Regulations

The regulations which apply in the reserves are set out on the notices displayed at the entrances and in swedish on this web page.