In the area around Tidan you find lake Östen, which is a typical floodplain lake, nutricious and shallow. It is one of the most valuable bird lakes in the country, and a very important link in the chain of resting places for migratory birds. The beautiful landscape around the lake bears evidence from thousands of years of human activity, and here you can also find several ancient monuments and cultural sights. Lake Östen, together with the rivers Tidan and Ösan, has connected large parts of north and east Skaraborg. A lot of the findings that have been made in the area indicates a very rich district. On your visit here, do not miss the ancient monuments Kung Ranes hög and Askeberga ship cumulus, or the cultural reserve Vallby Sörgården.
West of Axtorp Farm stands Horn Brickworks, adjudged by the Swedish National Heritage board to be Sweden's best preserved ancient brickworks. Extremely few facilities of this kind have been preserved so intact. The entire production process remains in place, from the clay quarry with excavator to the characteristic flame- and ring oven buildings with their high chimneys. Firing in the ring oven stopped in 1976, but after an extensive restoration a first attempt was made to reuse the oven in 1995. Since then the brickworks have been in production. Today, Horn is Sweden’s only brickworks where bricks are baked in a wood fired reverberatory furnace.
In the brickworks there is also a small shop that sells clay handicraft and a small museum where you can look at old utility objects.
If you want to visit Horn Brickworks outside opening hours, call about 30 min in advance and you will be warmly received.