Törnävän Manor Park

The old center of Seinäjoki, the Östermyra Manor area in Törnävä, is located about three kilometers south of the current city center, which grew around the railway junction.

The central natural elements of Törnävä are the Seinäjoki River and its rapids that flow through the area. The park is an important part of the Östermyra Manor complex, as valuable parks and a flourishing garden are some of the hallmarks of a genuine manor – herrgård. The manor park follows a 19th-century park plan. The park is part of the Crossing Fences network of European gardens, where traditional parks are developed in a joint project from the perspective of tourism and recreation.

Today’s Seinäjoki residents know the area as a popular event venue and a charming park and recreation oasis in the Seinäjoki river landscape. The manor’s parks and gardens are cared for in an exemplary manner.

Ancient relics

The Manor Park contains the remains of the buildings and structures of the ironworks and gunpowder factory. In the northern part are the ruins of the gunpowder factory’s lauter and pulee.

There are foundation stones of the first mill on the island and near Kniipintammi the foundations of the ironworks’ lower hammer and the flour and bone mill. Along the Mill Road there are restored stone foundations of the workers’ residential buildings, the small and large barns, and the remains of the foundations of outbuildings. The stone foundations of the old sauna and outbuilding can be found near the dairy.

In the southern part of the area there are the foundations of the upper hammer and the remains of the Simuna Bridge abutment. Ruutipuisto, located on the northern side of the island, was established as a nature reserve in 1948.

A historical look at the garden

The Mountain College granted Abraham Falander permission to establish an ironworks in Tikkukoski, Seinäjoki, on 28 August 1798. In connection with the construction of the ironworks, the first small cabbage fields, or vegetable gardens, were probably established in the best areas for the ironworks workers. The plots were used to grow turnips, turnip greens, cabbage, onions and potatoes.

The establishment of the manor’s vegetable gardens actually began when Gustaf Adolf became the owner of the ironworks. In addition to kitchen plants, flowers and ornamental shrubs were also grown. Red onions, beetroot, spinach and horseradish were grown in the following years. The renovation of the ironworks yard began in 1807.

In 1825, the second major construction phase in Östermyarn’s history began, when a gunpowder factory was established in the area. As the population increased, housing was built for the workers along Peräseinäjoentie. The manor yard was separated from the factory area by a fence. Gateposts and a gate were erected at the end of the entrance road. The expansion of the manor’s main building began in 1829, and its wings were completed in 1834. At the same time, construction of the first actual garden began on the west side of the main building.

Gustaf Adol Wasastjerna successfully ran an iron and gunpowder factory. In addition to the development of grass and grain cultivation, he was also interested in promoting horticulture. The Östermyra garden must have been different from the usual cabbage and horseradish garden, because the Finnish Horticultural Society invited the ironworks patron and knight Gustaf Wasastjerna to become a member in 1840.

Garden and park flowering season

The third patron of the manor, Gustaf August Wasastjerna, and Hedvig Mathilda Donner were married in 1848. It is said that when Mathilda first came to Östermyra Manor, the park alley leading to it was decorated with dried rose petals. This was the beginning of the garden and park’s actual flowering period.

Roses and dahlias were especially added to the garden, and they became Mathilda’s favorite plants. The renovation of the park began in 1856. A greenhouse was completed in the park, for which 62 glass panes were purchased. The roof was covered with shingles. A vine terrace was also built in Östermyra in the spring of 1861. The garden was renovated and tools were purchased for it. Flower boxes were made, seeds and rose bushes were produced in Turku, and even three palm trees in 1863.

In 1865, a new park plan was completed, in which the entire courtyard area was redesigned in the English style. The park had been expanded so that in addition to the main building, the ironworks workers’ apartments and a few outbuildings had been combined into a part of the manor park. The curves of the corridors were guided by new landforms, low hills and dense vegetation islands. The new round and oval flowerbeds of the entrance road were located symmetrically on both sides of the road.

The main building’s representative plantings, as well as the formal garden, were designed as oval and teardrop-shaped ornamental shrub and flower plantings. The number of plants and the abundance of species created variety in the park. Open meadows and heathland alternated between dense patches of trees and shrubs.

The Fallen Years – the last decade of floral splendor

As elsewhere in Finland, life in Östermyra changed in 1867, when the autumn brought frost and a year of famine. The summer grain harvest was lost, resulting in a general famine. The ironworks survived by importing grain from Russia. The following winter was very snowy and cold. In the spring, floods in the Seinäjoki region washed away the rye ears and the sowing of spring grains was delayed. In September, severe frosts destroyed the grain harvest. The loss of two consecutive harvests affected the ironworks’ finances so much that Gustaf August Wasastjerna was unable to meet the interest on his bank loans. In addition, he had had to pay large sums of money as guarantees to friends who had gone bankrupt. The ironworks were living in the beginning of the end.

Bankruptcy was inevitable. The Östermyra ironworks was sold at a forced auction in 1870 and the Union Bank became the owner. Gustaf continued as the bank’s farm manager until the bank sold the farm to Wasastjerna’s eldest son Albin, and for a while life continued as before.

In 1872, the park’s renovation continued. Over the decades, gardener Carl Dirix had made the garden flourish. In the winter of 1994, Dirix, who was over 70 years old, died, bringing an era in the history of the manor park to an end.

In 1884, the ironworks in Östermyra finally ceased operations. The gunpowder factory also declined and finally stopped when a gunpowder cylinder exploded in 1888. Gustaf and Mathilda’s time at the ironworks gradually began to come to an end. Gustaf could no longer cope with the ironworks’ debts and had to give up Östermyra again. The manor was sold to the Kaleva Life Insurance Company. The influence of the Wasastjerna family in Östermyra had ended.

From Östermyra to Törnävä

Several owners followed, during which the garden was left without a gardener and caretaker. The garden began to decline, the flower garden gradually disappeared. In 1900, the new owner, the Swedish timber company Östermyra Bruks Ab, cut down the forests on the estate. The manor lands were divided, subdivided and sold. In 1904, only 170 hectares remained of the 4,000-hectare farm of Wasastjerna’s time.

In 1904, Östermyra Manor was acquired by Konstantin Törnudd, a judge of the Ilmajoki District Court and an assessor of the Court of Appeal. He changed the name of Östermyra to Törnävä, after the Swedish name for his family’s birthplace, Tyrnävä. The island became Törnävä Island.

The park area and garden gradually took on a new look. Törnävä Island and the area between the main building and the roads were a park, but the area was also partly used as pasture, and the park vegetation gradually disappeared. Only the birch alley on Aleenintie remained.

Törnävä Manor Park 1925 – 1960

Törnudd bequeathed the manor to the municipality of Seinäjoki. During Törnudd’s time, old dilapidated buildings had been demolished and the appearance of the courtyard had become increasingly open.

The municipality rented the main building as a summer residence. In the 1930s, the meeting rooms of the municipal council and boards were moved there. In 1939, the Seinäjoki rural municipality rented the manor to Luontaisparantola ja Lepokoti Oy. The renovation of the manor park began, but the war interrupted operations for more than five years. The manor served as a military hospital from 1939 to 1945. The operation of the luontaisparantola continued until 1954, during which time the park and garden were renovated. Ruutipuisto, located on the north side of the island, was established as a nature reserve in 1948.

After the end of the natural health resort, the manor was renovated for municipal use. The rural municipality’s municipal office moved there in 1957. The manor also housed the municipal government’s meeting rooms and the maternity and children’s clinic. With the municipal merger, the manor was transferred to the Seinäjoki township in 1959.

The park’s stages during the city of Seinäjoki

Törnävä Park’s new heyday began when the manor was transferred to the Seinäjoki township in 1959, which became a city the following year. After the town hall was completed, the city’s operations were transferred there and the Seinäjoki School of Economics was located in the manor.

The manor park was bordered by birches, spruces and larches planted along the edge of the fence. Vegetation and flower plantings had gradually disappeared from the manor garden, which was managed as a meadow. Törnävä Island had a forest, old birches and spruces. The shores of the pond had been filled in over the years, and it was becoming overgrown. The shores of Törnävä Island were rugged rocks.

The city of Seinäjoki hired Arvo Toivola as city gardener in 1962. He began the renovation and expansion planning of the manor park. While preparing the renovation plans for the manor park, Toivola also studied the suitability of Törnävä Island as a venue for various events. He prepared a plan for expanding the pond and building a summer theater on Törnävä. His work was continued by the next gardener, Pekka Uotinen. The development of Törnävä as a recreation and entertainment center had begun.

A new island was built for the theatre, the pond was expanded and a new channel was dug to the east of the old channel. The dredged material was used to form the summer theatre’s viewing platform. The theatre island was completed in 1964. The Puleerinvainio became a parking area. In connection with the construction of the summer theatre, the entire Törnävä island was renovated. Old trees were removed and the field layer was grassed. Birches, Siberian firs, silver willows, Terijoki salvias and lindens, as well as Hungarian lilac bushes, were planted in the area. The renovation of the manor park continued throughout the 1960s. Lawns were established and the corridors were rebuilt. The swimming beach and the riverside corridor were renovated in 1968. The manor’s riverside garden was restored to its 19th-century model in 1979.

The garden was renovated to its current form in 1980 according to plans by the city gardener Kai Ahmio. The singing stage on Törnävä Island was renovated and a cafeteria and maintenance building was built on the island according to drawings by city architect Riia Hakola in 1971.

The most recent renovation of the park was carried out on Törnävä Island. The lawn in front of the singing stage was covered with concrete stones in 1989 to withstand the wear and tear caused by large public events. The plantings around the coastal walkway and Törnävä School were supplemented in 1992.

Today, the park area is home to approximately 1,630 trees and 660 shrubs. Many of the manor’s surviving buildings are used as offices and exhibition spaces for the South Ostrobothnia Provincial Museum. Törnävä Island was, and still is, a popular summer party spot, which today serves as the stage for, among other things, the summer theater and Provinssi. The cozy riverside park also offers natural peace and bird song.