Fire
The courthouse at Svinstad church, (now Bankekind) was only 22 years old when it burned to the ground in 1776. A new construction site four kilometres from the church was acquired by Fillinge equipment farmstead and builder Caspar Seurling in Linköping was commissioned to design a new courthouse. The result was a log building in the Carolingian style.
The contract was signed 14 years after the fire, and for 250 riksdaler in particular, Seurling was to dig a foundation, build a basement and timber the courthouse with attic rooms. The price also included erecting the roof, covering the roof with boards and chips and bricking the smoke passage. Construction work began in 1792. Materials and food and accommodation for the craftsmen were paid for by the county. Benches, tables, chairs and the judgement seat were delivered by sculptor Johan Magnus Beurling in Norrköping.
Building
Fillinge courthouse is built in one and a half stories with a broken tiled roof and round dormers on the long sides. The façade is covered in falcon red cap moulding panelling and a front staircase leads up to the ochre yellow double door with skylights and white painted pilasters on each side. The high windows let in a lot of light, especially in the courtroom, which has windows in several directions.
The generous entrance hall has paste paint paintings directly on the timber wall and a large curved staircase leading up to the attic with gable chambers for jurors and quartermasters. On the ground floor, in addition to the courtroom, there is also the judge's room, writing room, a room for litigants, one for the crown service and also a large kitchen.
Loses original function
In 1888, several districts were merged into one courthouse, and a new courthouse was built in Linköping. Fillinge courthouse thus lost its original function, and after some time the property was acquired by Bankekind's county savings bank. When the bank moved to Åtvidaberg in 1950, the courthouse was rented out as a caretaker's residence.
In 1960, the association Fillinge tingshus was formed with the aim of preserving and caring for the building. In 1965, the courthouse became a building monument and was sold by the bank to the association for SEK 4,000. The property was handed over to Östergötland's antiquities and museum association in 1969 and is now owned by Östergötlands museum.
