Skederid

A Landscape Full of Iron Age

Skederids parish lies west of Norrtälje, around the Norrtäljeån river and Lake Björken. The landscape is cultivated rolling lowland in the east, and lowland with forest elements elsewhere.

The archaeological record is remarkably dense. From the Bronze Age there are scattered grave mounds and stone settings. From the Iron Age 45 burial grounds and four ancient fortifications — two of them at Darsgärde. Six runic inscriptions have been found in the parish.

This is a lot for an area of just over fifty square kilometres, and it points to a parish that was densely populated and prosperous long before the Middle Ages.

Finsta Gård

In the parish lies the town of Finsta, which has its origins in Finsta gård — a manor house and former noble estate, known since the 13th century.

The estate is first mentioned in 1283, when Ragnhild Erlandsdotter sells it to her cousin Birger Persson. Birger Persson was a lawman in Uppland and father of Saint Birgitta, and according to tradition she was born here. The estate was depicted in 1708 in Suecia antiqua et hodierna.

The present wooden main building was erected in the 1730s. Skederids Church originally belonged to the estate. In 1945 Finsta was purchased by Stockholm County Council and was an agricultural gymnasium until 2003.

The Name

The name was written in 1287 as Skætharg and in 1337 as Skiædarghi. The suffix contains harg — "stony ground" or "stone heap", a word that in older place names could also denote a place of worship. The interpretation of the prefix is unclear.

A Parish Redrawn

Skederids parish has medieval origins, and the boundaries have shifted. In earlier times several villages administratively belonged here while ecclesiastically they belonged to Husby parish — Husby, Östra Syninge and Vallby. The village of Darsgärde was divided the other way: administratively to Länna parish, ecclesiastically to Sjuhundra.

This was clarified in 1889. By royal decree the whole of Darsgärde was moved to Sjuhundra in March, and the other villages to Lyhundra in June the same year.

Getting There

E18 and national highway 77 pass through the parish in the south.