Austevoll Church ( no, Austevoll kirke) is a

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in community activities, ...

of the

Church of Norway The Church of Norway ( nb, Den norske kirke, nn, Den norske kyrkja, se, Norgga girku, sma, Nöörjen gærhkoe) is an evangelical Lutheran denomination of Protestant Christianity and by far the largest Christian church in Norway. The church b ...

Austevoll Municipality Austevoll is a municipality and an archipelago in Vestland county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Midthordland in Western Norway. The administrative centre is the village of Storebø on the island of Huftarøy. Other vill ...

Vestland Vestland is a county in Norway established on 1 January 2020. The county is located in Western Norway and it is centred around the city of Bergen, Norway's second largest city. The administrative centre of the county is the city of Bergen, where t ...

county,

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

. It is located in the village of

Storebø Storebø is the administrative centre and largest village in Austevoll municipality in Vestland county, Norway. The village is located on the northern part of the island of Huftarøy, just south of the village of Birkeland and northwest of the v ...

. It is one of the five churches for the Austevoll

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or m ...

which is part of the

Fana prosti Fana is a borough of the city of Bergen in Vestland county, Norway. The borough makes up the southeastern part of the municipality of Bergen. The borough was once part of the historic municipality of Fana which was incorporated into Bergen in ...

(

deanery A deanery (or decanate) is an ecclesiastical entity in the Roman Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Anglican Communion, the Evangelical Church in Germany, and the Church of Norway. A deanery is either the jurisdiction or residenc ...

) in the

Diocese of Bjørgvin The Diocese of Bjørgvin ( no, Bjørgvin bispedømme) is one of the 11 dioceses that make up the Church of Norway. It includes all of the churches located in the county of Vestland in Western Norway. The cathedral city is Bergen, Norway's second ...

. The white, wooden church was built in a

long church Church building in Norway began when Christianity was established there around the year 1000. The first buildings may have been post churches erected in the 10th or 11th century, but the evidence is inconclusive. For instance under Urnes Stave C ...

design in 1890 using plans drawn up by the

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

Hans Heinrich Jess (1847-1916). The church seats about 400 people.

History

The earliest existing historical records of the church date back to the year 1306, the church was not new that year. The first church in Austevoll was a wooden

stave church A stave church is a medieval wooden Christian church building once common in north-western Europe. The name derives from the building's structure of post and lintel construction, a type of timber framing where the load-bearing ore-pine posts a ...

built on the small island of Sandtorv, probably during the late 1200s. According to the

Hákonar saga Hákonarsonar ''Hákonar saga Hákonarsonar'' ("The Saga of Haakon Haakonarson") or ''Hákonar saga gamla'' ("The Saga of Old Haakon") is an Old Norse Kings' Saga, telling the story of the life and reign of King Haakon Haakonarson of Norway. Content and style ...

, King Håkon is said to have rowed out to the island of Sandtorv and held a mass there in 1240. It is possible the church was built shortly after that time. Archaeological findings show that the

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...

of the church was probably about . In the 1650s, the Sandtorv church was old and so it was decided to tear down the church and move the church site to

Austevollshella Austevollshella or Austevoll is a village in Austevoll municipality, Norway. Austevollshella is located on the southeastern coast of the island of Hundvåko. The Austevoll Bridge, which connects Hundvåko and Huftarøy islands, is located at Aus ...

on the nearby island of Hundvåko. In 1653–1655, the old church was torn down and the new church was constructed on the new site. There is some evidence that some of the materials from the old stave church were reused in the construction of the new church. According to a local legend, the new church was originally going to be built on the old site, but a storm carried the material over to the site on Austevollshella. Taken as a sign from God, the new church was built there. This was a

timber-framed Timber framing (german: Holzfachwerk) and "post-and-beam" construction are traditional methods of building with heavy timbers, creating structures using squared-off and carefully fitted and joined timbers with joints secured by large wooden ...

building with a rectangular

that measured about and a narrower, rectangular

chancel In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may terminate in an apse. Ove ...

that measured about . The church at Austevollshella was in use for over 200 years, giving name to the parish of Austevoll, which in turn gave name to the municipality in 1886. The church building was owned by the King until 1724 when it was sold to Bent Uldrich for 70 rigsdaler. The church was purchased by the people of the parish around the year 1860. In 1891, the church was torn down and the present church was rebuilt on the nearby island of

Huftarøy Huftarøy is the largest island in the municipality of Austevoll in Vestland county, Norway. The island lies in the Austevoll archipelago, just west of the Bjørnafjorden, south of the Korsfjorden, east of the Mokstrafjorden, and north of the S ...

in the village of Storebø. Hans Heinrich Jess was hired to design the new, larger church. Construction work began around midsummer 1890 and was completed by Christmas the same year. The builder was B. Skaare. This new church was

consecrate Consecration is the solemn dedication to a special purpose or service. The word ''consecration'' literally means "association with the sacred". Persons, places, or things can be consecrated, and the term is used in various ways by different grou ...

d on 22 January 1891 by the Bishop

Waldemar Hvoslef Waldemar Hvoslef (17 March 1825 – 5 May 1906) was a Norwegian Lutheran bishop. Fredrik Waldemar Hvoslef was born in Christiania (now Oslo) and grew up in Holmestrand in Vestfold. He was the son of Jens Hvoslef (1783–1830) who served as Magis ...

. In 1987, the baptismal waiting room and the

sacristy A sacristy, also known as a vestry or preparation room, is a room in Christian churches for the keeping of vestments (such as the alb and chasuble) and other church furnishings, sacred vessels, and parish records. The sacristy is usually located ...

on each side of the

choir A choir ( ; also known as a chorale or chorus) is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform. Choirs may perform music from the classical music repertoire, which ...

were expanded. The present Hundvåkøy Church now sits on the site at Austevollshella where the old Austevoll Church was located from the 1650s until 1891. Some items from the medieval Sandtorv church, including the shrine, are still in existence to this day and they are currently in custody of the

Bergen Museum The University Museum of Bergen ( no, Universitetsmuseet i Bergen) is a university museum in Bergen, Norway. The museum features material related to anthropology, archaeology, botany, geology, zoology, art, and cultural history. History The Univ ...

References

{{use dmy dates, date=May 2020 Austevoll Churches in Vestland Long churches in Norway Wooden churches in Norway 19th-century Church of Norway church buildings Churches completed in 1890 13th-century establishments in Norway

History

See also

References