Skärfva Manor

Skärfva Manor was built in 1785 - 1786 as a summer residence by the admiral of the yard Fredrik Henrik af Chapman in cooperation with admiral Carl August Ehrensvärd. The building was originally a timbered house painted red with a turf roof. In the 1860's the present panelling was mounted and the roofs were tiled. The building's odd mixture of styles has amazed visitors through all times. Here we find everything from Gothic style to the traditional open-ridged cottage and Greek temple. The house is to a large extent a play with the thoughts and tastes of those times, not least influences from the Italian trip made by Ehrensvärd. The purpose of Skärfva Manor was to serve as af Chapman's experimental workshop and hermitage during the summer.

Around the manor house a park was laid out - originally an English park. Helping with the plan was af Chapman's childhood friend and later royal architect in London, William Chambers. Today the park houses a Gothic tower, contemporary with the manor house, a temple (garden pavilion) and at the waterside to the east af Chapman's planned sepulchre. In the old days the park also housed a test basin for hydrodynamic experiments, in which boat-models were tested and a hermit's cave.

The harbour south of the park was constructed at the same time as the manor house. In the old days the most common fairway between Skärfva and Karlskrona was by sea.

The bathing-house by the waterside to the south of the grave was built in the 1870's. Originally the bathing-house was provided with a plank-enclosed bathing-corf on the outside where you could take your bath in private.

Address

Havsvägen 55, Karlskrona, Sweden

Details

Founded: 1785-1786
Category: Palaces, manors and town halls in Sweden
Historical period: The Age of Enlightenment (Sweden)