History

The town of Dobra was mentioned in written records for the first time in 1386. It was already referred to as a town in 1511, however, it was officially granted municipal rights in 1583. The town was owned by members of the nobility: initially the Walewski family, from 1679— the Mączyński family, and from 1809 — the Skórzewski family. The original estate covered the areas occupied by Długa Wieś Wartska, which is currently part of the town of Dobra and which was mentioned in written records for the first time in 1419. In 1456, it belonged to Mikołaj of Dobra. The stronghold of the owners was situated on a mound surrounded by a moat (it currently has the form of an islet on a pond located to the south-east of the present manor house). In the 2nd half of the 17th century, it was replaced with a fortified manor house.

In 1809, the estate was purchased by Paweł Skórzewski of the Dobrogosław coat of arms. In 1874, his grandson erected a new manor house in Długa Wieś Wartska. In 1915 (1911?), Witold Skórzewski sold the estate to Ludwik Schweikert, a son of a well-known Łódź industrialist, Fryderyk Wilhelm Schweikert. The Schweikert family built the present farm buildings: a carriage house and storehouses (in the 1st quarter of the 20th century) and a distillery (in 1924). In the years 1941-1943, Schweikert left Dobra and moved to the First Reich. After 1945, the manor house complex was taken over by the State Treasury and the manor farm complex was used by a local PGR (“State Agricultural Farm”). In the 1950s, the manor house was renovated. In the 1960s and 1970s, new farm buildings were added to the farm complex.

Description

Dobra is located by a road connecting Turek with Warta. The manor house and farm complex is situated in the north-western part of the town, in the former Długa Wieś Wartska. The park being part of the complex borders the residential part of the town on the east side. The manor house, located in the central part of the complex, has brick walls covered with plaster, resting on crushed stone and brick foundations. Built on a rectangular floor plan, it has one storey and a loft. In the centre of the north-west façade, having 9 axes, there is an avant-corps crowned with a triangular pediment. The tympanum incorporates a coat of arms. The main entrance to the building is located in the south-east wall, having 7 axes. Above, there is a wide, three-axis wall of a garret, topped with a triangular pediment and a separate gable roof. The palace has a two-bay layout with a staircase located in the centre of the hall in the north-western suite of rooms. Brick steps lead to the doors located on the west and east sides of the building. The basements are covered with brick ceilings, above — there are wooden ceilings with counter-ceilings. The basement floor is made of concrete, the floors on the upper storeys are made of wood. The casement windows, single or double, are divided by muntins. The doors, single or double, mostly panelled, are installed in panelled door frames in load-bearing walls. The gable roof is covered with eternit.

The park covers an area of approx. 2 ha. The dominant group of trees are indigenous species and shrubs, mainly chestnut trees. To the south of the manor house, there is a pond with a small islet in the centre — a former mound atop of which there used to stand a stronghold and then a 17th-century fortified manor house. A primary school was built in the western part of the park in the 1960s.

The manor farm is situated to the north-west of the residence, separated from it with part of the park. Its original buildings include a distillery, a carriage house, and storehouses. The two-storeyed distillery, made of brick, has an irregular floor plan. The main body is adjoined by a two-storeyed annex and an office building on the south-west side, storehouses and a fermentation building with a residential section on the first floor on the north-east side, a boiler house and a malt house on the north-west side, and offices and storehouses on the south-east side. To the east of the distilerry, there is a spirits storehouse, built on a rectangular floor plan.

The carriage house, having a rectangular floor plan, is made partially of wood and partially of brick. It is located in the central part of the manor farm complex. The plastered gables and half of the back wall are made of brick. In the front of the building, there is a protruding component resting on brick piers. The storehouses, built on a rectangular floor plan, have brick plastered walls and are covered with gable roofs.

The buildings can be visited from the outside.

compiled by Tomasz Łuczak, Regional Branch of the National Heritage Board of Poland in Poznan, 16-11-2015.

Bibliography

• Makary Górzyński, Zabytki miasta Turku i powiatu tureckiego, T. 2. Rezydencje powiatu tureckiego, Turek 2009, s. 121-138.
• Piotr Maluśkiewicz, Województwo konińskie. Szkic monograficzny, Warszawa-Poznań 1983, s. 145-147.
• Piotr Maluśkiewicz, Ziemia konińska. Przewodnik turystyczny, Konin 2002, s. 77-78.
• Dwór w Dobrej, Karta ewidencji zabytków architektury i budownictwa, opr. Wojciech Ciszyński, 1999, ze zbiorów Archiwum WUOZ — Delegatura w Koninie
• Gorzelnia w Dobrej, Karta ewidencji zabytków architektury i budownictwa, opr. Wojciech Ciszyński, 1999, ze zbiorów Archiwum WUOZ — Delegatura w Koninie
• Folwark we wsi Dobra - wozownia ob. garaż, Karta ewidencji zabytków architektury i budownictwa, opr. Magdalena Gers, 1988, ze zbiorów Archiwum WUOZ — Delegatura w Koninie
• Zespół folwarczny w Dobrej, Karta ewidencji zabytków architektury i budownictwa, opr. Magdalena Gers, 1988, ze zbiorów Archiwum WUOZ — Delegatura w Koninie
• Wielkopolska. Słownik krajoznawczy, red. Łęcki Włodzimierz, Poznań 2002, s. 61-62.