Hattulan keskiaikaiset kartanot ja Lepaan puutarhaopisto

English translation (from the Finnish)

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Description

The medieval rälssi of the Vanajavesi valley is represented by a significant number of manors in the Hattula area. The medieval rälssi and säteri manors of Lahdenta, Suonta, Lepaa, Merve and Vesunta form an extensive cultivated landscape in the northern part of the Vanajavesi valley. In the area, historical and landscape values stand out alongside the built environment. The horticultural institute established on the lands of the Lepaa manor is, alongside the Mustiala agricultural college and the Evo forestry institute, one of the state educational institutions founded during the autonomy period, whose aim was to promote agriculture, forest management and horticulture in Finland. The institution is still in its original use; horticultural teaching has continued without interruption for a century.

The manor environments of Lahdenta, Suonta, Lepaa, Merve and Vesunta include, alongside a varied building stock dating from different centuries, long-cultivated open fields with tree-lined avenues leading to the farm centres, as well as parks and extensive horticultural plantations.

The history of the manors is linked to the fortunes of families and individuals who influenced the history of Häme and of the whole country. The expertise of well-known architects has been used in designing the buildings and parks. In addition to the manors and the horticultural institute, the area has numerous farms and villas, together with the residential buildings of workers associated with them.

The Lepaa horticultural institute was established on the lands of the former Lepaa rälssisäteri. Today Lepaa is divided into three parts. The core of the area is the institute courtyard built in the 1930s, whose buildings form a courtyard square built on four sides. The second part consists of the oldest buildings in the area, the manor's main building and pytinki building, in the park adjoining the salme. A road runs through the area and ends at the windmill, the late medieval kivisakasti and the associated cemetery enclosed by a stone wall. At present (2009) the horticultural institute of the Lepaa unit of Hämeen ammattikorkeakoulu operates at Lepaa. The newest building stock in the area dates mainly from the turn of the 1950s and 1960s and from the 1990s. The new greenhouse was built in the 2000s.

The area of the medieval manors of Hattula and the Lepaa horticultural institute is part of the nationally valuable landscape area of the Vanajavesi valley.

History

The cultural landscapes of the Vanajavesi valley have been the most densely settled area of Häme since the Iron Age, owing to favourable conditions and an important waterway. Prehistoric settlement is evidenced by numerous burial grounds, settlement sites, ancient fields, cup-marked stones, sword-sharpening stones and hillforts. In the early Middle Ages, Swedish rule and Christianity began to strengthen in Häme, reflected in churches, fortresses and rälssi manors.

Hattula is one of the oldest parishes in Häme, and Tyrväntö, i.e. Kulsiala, had been a chapel of the Hattula parish from the 1440s onwards. The chapel parish's stone sacristy was built at the turn of the 15th and 16th centuries, and a wooden church room was attached to it. The church was demolished in 1799, except for the sacristy, when the new Tyrvännö church was built in the village of Suotaala.

Lahdentaa manor is mentioned as a rälssi manor in 1449; it developed into a residential manor in the second half of the 17th century. The flax-spinning mill and spinning school founded by Sotaneuvos Boije operated at Lahdentaa in 1762–1776. The two-storey log main building was completed in 1787. The present neo-Renaissance appearance dates from the 1880s; the kitchen wing was built in 1925. The courtyard contains residential and outbuildings dating from the 19th century. The park was established in the 18th century.

Suonta manor was already a residential manor in the Middle Ages. Finland's first known knight and political figure, Niilo Olavinpoika, was master of the estate at the turn of the 14th and 15th centuries. The manor setting dates from the early 20th century. The classicist-style plan was drawn up by the architectural office Frosterus & Gripenberg, although the plans were not carried out in full. The main building was remodelled to its present form in 1927. The park surrounding the main building was planned by Bengt Schalin in 1928–30. The large brick-built cattle buildings of the farmyard date from the 1890s and 1920s.

Merve rälssi manor and village are first mentioned in the 1380s. The manor was formed from the rälssi manors of Ylöstalo and Alastalo and from the Kraatari rälssi manor, which was merged with them in the 1830s. The manor buildings stand on a hillock at the end of a birch avenue. The main building and the park surrounding it date from the 1850s. In the group village concentrated on the ridge of Merve, traditional building stock has survived on the Heikkilä, Henttala and Visala farms.

Vesunta manor is the oldest in Hattula. The first mention of the rälssi manor dates from the 1310s. Besides the Turun tuomiokirkko and the Crown, owners have included, among others, Sten Sture and Arvid Tavast. The manor's log-framed, rendered main building dates from the 19th century. The impressive stone and brick cowshed was built in the 1840s from the stones of the grey stone castle ruin built by Sten Sture in the 16th century.

Lepaa rälssi manor, one of the oldest manors in Häme, is mentioned in written sources as a residential manor as early as the 1460s. The location of Tyrvännö church on the land of Lepaa manor, almost adjoining its courtyard, links the medieval history of the church and the manor.

Lepaa was also called Stjernsund after its owners of the Stjerncrantz family. According to tradition, the main building dates from the 17th century. The building received its present, mainly Empire-style, appearance in the early 19th century. The manor garden was originally planted in the 1760s. The English-style park dates from the 1840s and the baroque-style garden from the 1930s.

The last owner of Stjernsund manor was Karl Fredrik Packalén, who bequeathed the property in his will to the state in 1902 for a horticultural or agricultural school. The location of Lepaa on a busy shipping route, the availability of different soil types and the mild climate are cited as decisive factors when deciding to site the planned state horticultural institute there. The Lepaa horticultural institute was founded in 1912, and a horticultural school alongside it in 1923.

Buildings of Lepaa manor were repaired and built in 1910–12 for use by the institute, under the direction of architect H. Helin. The functions were placed in the old manor buildings. The only new building was the school building Opistola, which was positioned to complete the courtyard bordered by Kotila, the former servants' quarters converted into a dormitory, and Marjala, the granary storehouse converted into a storage place for berry produce. A fire that struck the school completely destroyed Opistola in 1934. To designs by architect Jalmari Peltonen, the dining hall Toimela was built in 1935 on the stone foundation of the former Opistola, and opposite it, on the south edge of the courtyard, the present three-storey institute building. The institute's cattle buildings were built in the 1930s beside the road leading to Tyrvännö church. The building plan comprises a stone cowshed, a brick storehouse and residential buildings, and these were drawn up by the Yleisten rakennusten ylihallitus.