Eriksberg

The parish of Eriksberg is situated along the upper part of the river Lidan about 20 km south-west of Falköping.

In the parish are two medieval estates, Gate and Ladås, which in the 12th century belonged to Jedward (a saxon name) whose son Bengt ('Benedictus the good') became bishop in the diocese of Skara. Another son, Erik, got for about four years political power and was 1160 murdered at the church of Uppsala. His son Knut Eriksson was king between 1167 and 1195. This as an explanation of why the parish has got its present name. Neither the date of erection or the architecture of the church show a distinguished influence from the Jedward family. A number of churches were erected in that period.

The chancel has an apse and is barrel vaulted, which in the province is very rare for that period. The tie beams rest partly submerged on the cavity walls and are hooked into the wall plate. The struts of the truss are joined to the rafters by simple mortise and tenon joints, which is a weakness in the construction. This is compensated by big dimensions, 21x22 cm, of the tie beams (oak) and a short distance, about 28 cm, between them (compare the truss of Garde, Gotland). Fig. no. 33 shows a cross section of the truss of the nave.

Bore-cores from the wall plate and from different parts of the trusses of the nave and the chancel have been taken, all together 21 samples, which are dated.

The northern timber of the wall plate is cut of an oak which was felled in the winter season 1152 - 1153.