The cliff at Stevns Klint

Stevns chalk has been used as building material for many hundreds of years. It was used in the construction of Bishop Absalon's Castle by the Harbour (Copenhagen's foundation 1167), and it was used when Peder Jensen Lodehat built Gjorslev on Stevns around 1397. Furthermore, one can mention Lindencrone's Mansion in Bredgade near Amalienborg (1750-53) and Thorvaldsen's Museum (1841-42).

In 1793, Jacob Brønnum Scavenius bought the Gjorslev, Søholm and Erikstup estates. The new landowner was a farsighted man who secured himself the opportunity for increased exploitation of the cliff's raw materials. During the division of the cliff villages in the late 1790s, Scavenius secured ownership of the farms along the cliff. In Sigerslev, Tommestrup and Højerup, some of these farms were divided into new properties with small plots of land (Lilledal, Barmhjertigheden, Vindehuse and Harvig), and gradually these crofters became the most important labour force at the cliff.

Production tripled from the 1840s to the 1870s, reaching 270,000 chalkstones per year. It was the development of agriculture that created a large local market. The old farms were worn out, and favourable economic conditions made it possible to replace them with new and larger buildings.