Gransherad Church ( no, Gransherad kyrkje) is a parish church 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 ...

in Notodden Municipality in Telemark county, Norway. It is located in the village of Gransherad. It is the church for the Gransherad parish which is part of the

Øvre Telemark prosti This list of churches in Agder og Telemark is a list of the Church of Norway churches in the Diocese of Agder og Telemark in Agder and Vestfold og Telemark counties in southern Norway. The diocese is based at the Kristiansand Cathedral in the cit ...

(

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 Agder og Telemark The Diocese of Agder og Telemark ( no, Agder og Telemark bispedømme) is a diocese of the Church of Norway, covering all of Agder county and most of Vestfold og Telemark county in Norway. The cathedral city is Kristiansand, Norway's fifth larges ...

. 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 1849 using plans drawn up by the architect

Hans Linstow Hans Ditlev Franciscus (Frants) von Linstow (4 May 1787 – 10 June 1851) was a Danish/Norwegian architect who designed the Royal Palace in Oslo and much of the surrounding park and the street ''Karl Johans gate''. Background Hans Ditlev Franc ...

. The church seats about 250 people.

History

The earliest existing historical records of the church date back to the year 1369, but that was not the year the church was built. The first church in Gransherad was a wooden stave church that was located about to the northwest of the present church site. The church was dedicated to Saint Olav and it was possibly built during the 13th century. The building was extensively rebuilt over the years, so that it was difficult to see the stave church character towards the end. It appears from an inspection report from 1668 that the church had open-air corridors surrounding the nave and chancel, but later they were removed when windows were installed on the long wall of the nave. Later, the whole nave was torn down and replaced with a new timber-framed nave. The church eventually fell into disrepair and the best plan for moving forwards was to replace the building. So in 1845–1849, a new church was built on the south side of the churchyard, about to the southeast. The last service in the old church was held on 11 August 1849, and then the church was demolished on 20-21 August 1849. The new church was

consecrated 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 ...

on 11 September 1849. The new Gransherad church is a

log construction A log house, or log building, is a structure built with horizontal logs interlocked at the corners by notching. Logs may be round, squared or hewn to other shapes, either handcrafted or milled. The term "log cabin" generally refers to a sma ...

that was built by master builder Halvor Andreas Olsen using plans drawn up by

. The church is a wooden

with a west tower over the church porch. The choir has the same width as the nave. A

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 ...

was built in 1939. In 1985, a detached building was built to the south of the church which contains some storage rooms as well as public toilets for the church.

Media gallery

Gransherad kirke IMG 0483 RK 84407.JPG No. 68. Ved Gransherred Kirke, Telemarken - no-nb digifoto 20130207 00002 bldsa FA1051.jpg Gransherad stavkirke fra Dietrichson via LH.jpg, View of the old church

References

{{use dmy dates, date=November 2022 Notodden Churches in Telemark Long churches in Norway Wooden churches in Norway 19th-century Church of Norway church buildings Churches completed in 1849 13th-century establishments in Norway

History

Media gallery

See also

References