Buksnes Church ( no, Buksnes 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 ...

Vestvågøy Municipality Vestvågøy is a municipality in Nordland county, Norway. It is part of the traditional district of Lofoten. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Leknes. Some of the villages in the municipality include Ballstad, Borg, ...

Nordland Nordland (; smj, Nordlánnda, sma, Nordlaante, sme, Nordlánda, en, Northland) is a county in Norway in the Northern Norway region, the least populous of all 11 counties, bordering Troms og Finnmark in the north, Trøndelag in the south, N ...

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 Gravdal on the island of

Vestvågøya Vestvågøya or Vest-Vågøy is an island in the Lofoten archipelago in Nordland county, Norway. The island is located within Vestvågøy Municipality. The island lies between the islands of Austvågøya and Gimsøya to the northeast and Flakst ...

. It is the church for the Buksnes

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

Lofoten prosti Lofoten () is an archipelago and a traditional district in the county of Nordland, Norway. Lofoten has distinctive scenery with dramatic mountains and peaks, open sea and sheltered bays, beaches and untouched lands. There are two towns, Svolvær ...

(

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 Sør-Hålogaland Sør-Hålogaland is a diocese in the Church of Norway. The Diocese covers the Lutheran Church of Norway churches located within Nordland county in Norway. The diocese is headquartered in the town of Bodø at Bodø Cathedral, the seat of the pres ...

. The red, wooden,

Dragestil Dragestil ("Dragon Style") is a style of design and architecture that originated in Norway and was widely used principally between 1880 and 1910. It is a variant of the more embracing National Romantic style and an expression of Romantic nationali ...

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 ...

style in 1905 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 ...

Karl Norum Karl Martin Norum (1852—1911) was a Norwegian architect, best known for his many church buildings, as well as contributions to the reconstruction after the fire in the city of Ålesund in 1904. Norum is well known for his Art Nouveau and ...

. The church seats about 600 people.

History

The Buksnes church site has been in use for centuries. The first written record referring to the church at Buksnes dates back to 1324, but the church was not built that year. There have been several

church buildings Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship * C ...

on the site over the years. The first church on the site was located about east of the present church site in what is now a part of the

cemetery A cemetery, burial ground, gravesite or graveyard is a place where the remains of dead people are buried or otherwise interred. The word ''cemetery'' (from Greek , "sleeping place") implies that the land is specifically designated as a buri ...

. The old medieval church was badly damaged in a storm in 1639, so a new, wooden church was completed on the same site in 1641. This church was described in 1750 as having a large tower and a large fenced cemetery. In 1802, the church was deemed to be in very poor condition after multiple repairs over the years, so it was decided to tear down the old church and rebuild a brand new one on the same site. They reused the materials from the old church that were still in good condition. In 1814, this church served as an

election church An election church ( no, valgkirke) is a term used for approximately 300 churches in Norway that were used as polling stations during the elections to the Norwegian Constituent Assembly at Eidsvoll in 1814. This was Norway's first national election ...

( no, valgkirke). Together with more than 300 other parish churches across Norway, it was a polling station for elections to the 1814

Norwegian Constituent Assembly The Norwegian Constituent Assembly (in Norwegian ''Grunnlovsforsamlingen'', also known as ''Riksforsamlingen'') is the name given to the 1814 constitutional assembly at Eidsvoll in Norway, that adopted the Norwegian Constitution and formalised th ...

which wrote the

Constitution of Norway nb, Kongeriket Norges Grunnlov nn, Kongeriket Noregs Grunnlov , jurisdiction =Kingdom of Norway , date_created =10 April - 16 May 1814 , date_ratified =16 May 1814 , system =Constitutional monarchy , b ...

. This was Norway's first national elections. Each

church 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 ...

was a constituency that elected people called "electors" who later met together in each county to elect the representatives for the assembly that was to meet in

Eidsvoll Eidsvoll (; sometimes written as ''Eidsvold'') is a municipality in Akershus in Viken county, Norway. It is part of the Romerike traditional region. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Sundet. General information E ...

later that year. In 1882, the church was again heavily damaged in a storm. It is said that the tower and spire were blown off the church by the powerful storm and the spire was blown into the ground and deeply embedded. So afterwards, the church was torn down and a new church was built on the same site in 1885. The new church was a cruciform design and it seated about 640 people. On 26 January 1903 the church was struck by

lightning Lightning is a naturally occurring electrostatic discharge during which two electric charge, electrically charged regions, both in the atmosphere or with one on the land, ground, temporarily neutralize themselves, causing the instantaneous ...

and it burned down. Planning for a new church began soon after. It was decided to build the new church in another part of the churchyard, about to the west of the old church site. Drawings for the new building were designed by

and were approved on 6 February 1904. Site work and construction soon began and it 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 November 1905 by Bishop Peter W. K. Bøckman. This red, wooden church was built in

dragestil Dragestil ("Dragon Style") is a style of design and architecture that originated in Norway and was widely used principally between 1880 and 1910. It is a variant of the more embracing National Romantic style and an expression of Romantic nationali ...

''("Dragon style")'', a popular design in early 20th century

Scandinavia Scandinavia; Sámi languages: /. ( ) is a subregion#Europe, subregion in Northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. In English usage, ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, ...

. The old church was torn down after the fire and that area was used to expand the graveyard. Electric power and heat were installed after

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. The church was renovated in 1965-1967 when some structural defects were corrected.

Media gallery

Gravdal1.jpg, 2010-08-03 - Gravdal - Buskenes-Kirche - Drachenkirche.jpg, Букснес.jpg, NO-lofoten-gravdal-buksnes-kirche-seite.jpg, Gravdal-Buksnes-Stabkirche-08-2019-gje.jpg, Gravdal-Buksnes-Stabkirche-26-zum Chor-2019-gje.jpg, Gravdal-Buksnes-Stabkirche-32-Altar-2019-gje.jpg, Gravdal-Buksnes-Stabkirche-38-zur Empore-2019-gje.jpg, Gravdal-Buksnes-Stabkirche-44-Orgel-2019-gje.jpg, Gravdal-Buksnes-Stabkirche-46-Kanzel-2019-gje.jpg, Gravdal-Buksnes-Stabkirche-56-seitlich-2019-gje.jpg,

References

External links

Vestvågøy parish website
{{use dmy dates, date=March 2021 Vestvågøy Churches in Nordland Wooden churches in Norway National Romantic architecture in Norway Art Nouveau church buildings in Norway 20th-century Church of Norway church buildings Churches completed in 1905 13th-century establishments in Norway Norwegian election church Long churches in Norway

History

Media gallery

See also

References

External links