Tornby-Lønstrup

Selected experiences on the route

Skallerup Beach
You will notice that the sand at Skallerup is darker than at other beaches. This dark sand, also known as heavy sand, contains iron-rich minerals from the sea, which gives the beach its distinctive appearance. Despite the dark shade, the sand is not polluted, so you can safely enjoy the child-friendly beach's excellent bathing conditions, beach fishing, or a hike along the Hærvejen trail.

Skallerup Beach is connected to a series of groynes, a construction of large stones designed to protect the beach and coast from natural erosion. When storms come from the west, large amounts of sand are washed away, which are carried by the current to the north. The coasts north and south of Lønstrup are eroded by the sea, and therefore the coastline moves eastward by one to two meters annually.

Skallerup Klit, Lønstrup, 9800 Hjørring

Skallerup Church
Almost completely hidden behind dense vegetation in the otherwise modest dune parish, you will find Skallerup Church. The church's history dates back to the Middle Ages, when it was built in the 12th century and expanded with the distinctive west tower in the 15th century. Today, the church consists of a Romanesque chancel and nave, flanked by the west tower from the 15th century, a sacristy and a porch from the late Gothic period.

The church is constructed of granite blocks on a chamfered plinth. While the north door has been bricked up, the south door still stands open, welcoming you. In the south wall of the chancel, you can still see the original windows, where two round-arched monolithic lintels have been inserted.

Grønne Klitvej 306, 9800 Hjørring

Bækslugten, The Natural Disaster in Lønstrup
On the stretch from Tornby to Lønstrup, you will pass by Bækslugten. Bækslugten is the result of a natural disaster that occurred in Lønstrup on August 11, 1877, on what had otherwise started as a calm summer day, but which changed the town's landscape forever.

In the small fishing village of Lønstrup, accustomed to the whims of the North Sea and the erosion of the coast, a natural disaster struck from a completely different direction than the sea. A sudden cloudburst with a thunderous sky and violent torrents of water from above, rarely seen by the town, transformed the otherwise peaceful landscape into chaos. Fields were flooded, bridges and roads were torn away, and the quiet stream that meandered through the town turned into a raging river. The stream carried trees, houses, and outbuildings into the sea and left behind a fifty-meter wide and fifteen-meter deep gorge, splitting the town in two – Bækslugten.

During the hour and a half that the cloudburst lingered over Lønstrup, seven houses disappeared, and several walls had to be subsequently torn down due to the danger of collapse, but no lives were lost.

Today, the sides of Bækslugten are covered with vegetation, but you can clearly sense how nature on that summer day in 1877 changed the landscape of Lønstrup.

Strandvejen 89, 9800 Hjørring