Botne is a former municipality in

Vestfold Vestfold is a traditional region, a former county and a current electoral district in Eastern Norway. In 2020 the county became part of the much larger county of Vestfold og Telemark. Located on the western shore of the Oslofjord, it bordered t ...

county, Norway. The parish of Botne was established as a municipality January 1, 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt). According to the 1835 census the municipality had a population of 1,600. In 1942 a part of Botne with 148 inhabitants was moved to

Holmestrand is a town and municipality in Vestfold in Vestfold og Telemark county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Holmestrand. The town was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt). T ...

, and in 1947 a part with 8 inhabitants was moved to

Våle Våle is a village in Tønsberg municipality, and former municipality, in Vestfold og Telemark county, Norway. Våle is a rural, agricultural area, with Kirkevoll/ Brekkeåsen, Rånerudåsen, Svinevoll, Sørby and Gretteåsen as more dense housing ...

. On 1 January 1964 the rest of Botne was incorporated into Holmestrand. Prior to the merger Botne had a population of 5,656.

The name

The municipality (originally the parish) was named after the old farm Botne ( Norse ''Botnar''), since the first church was built there. The name is the plural form of ''botn'' m 'bottom, hollow, depression'. Botne kirke døpefont

Botne Church

Botne Church (''Botne kirke'') is a stone church. It dates from the 13th century. The church is dedicated to

St. Nicholas Saint Nicholas of Myra, ; la, Sanctus Nicolaus (traditionally 15 March 270 – 6 December 343), also known as Nicholas of Bari, was an early Christian bishop of Greek descent from the maritime city of Myra in Asia Minor (; modern-day Demre ...

. There is rectangular nave and lower and narrower choir. The Renaissance / Baroque altarpiece is from 1664 and consists of four pictures from the gospels. The pulpit is from 1634 with five subjects with evangelists and painted in large fields. The baptismal font is also from the 1600s and has an octagonal basin with painted biblical scenes on four sides. Botne church was expanded in 1865 and restored in 1947. In 1865 the ridge turret was replaced by a tower in the west and with a gable roof at the east end of the choir. The ceiling was paneled, new hardwood floors replaced the stone floor, new gallery at the west wall, larger gallery at the north wall and new benches. During a restoration in 1947, the chancel screen and the north gallery were removed and west gallery was renewed. The church got a new altar and paintings on the north wall were uncovered.

References

Other sources

* * Former municipalities of Norway {{Vestfold-geo-stub