Grindheim Church ( no, Grindheim kyrkje) 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 ...

Etne Municipality Etne is a municipality in Vestland county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Sunnhordland, although it is also sometimes considered to be part of the district of Haugaland. The administrative centre of the municipality is the ...

Vestland Vestland is a Counties of Norway, 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 cit ...

county,

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, 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 ...

. It is located in the village of

Etnesjøen Etnesjøen or Etne is the administrative centre of Etne municipality in Vestland county, Norway. The village is located at the inner end of the Etnefjorden, along the European route E134 highway, about south of the village of Skånevik and abou ...

. It is one of the churches for the Etne

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

Sunnhordland prosti Sunnhordland is a traditional district in the western region of Norway. The district consists of the southern coastal regions of the old Hordaland county (now part of Vestland county). It includes the areas that surround the mouth of the Hardang ...

(

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 1724 using plans drawn up by an unknown

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 ...

. The church seats about 250 people.

History

The earliest existing historical records of the church date back to the year 1326, but it was not new that year. The church 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 ...

that was likely built during the 13th century. The location must have been an important site on which to build a church since this location includes the largest pre-Christian burial site in Etne with more than 200 burial mounds. Today most of it is cultivated farmland and only some large mounds remain. To the far south is a large site with small mounds dating from the Bronze Age. In 1673, the church was badly damaged in a storm (like the nearby

Gjerde Church Gjerde Church ( no, Gjerde kyrkje) is a parish church of the Church of Norway in Etne Municipality in Vestland county, Norway. It is located in the Etnesjøen, just south of the village centre. It is one of the churches for the Etne parish which i ...

), but this church was repaired and its structure was reinforced. By 1722, the old stave church was described as having a

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 ...

with a

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 ...

and a square tower at the west end of the building. Shortly after this, in 1723-1724, the old stave church was torn down and a new church building was constructed on the same site. The church bells in the tower date from 1628 and 1751, respectively. The building was extended to the west in 1854. In 1954–55 the church was renovated and restored. During this renovation, a new

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 on the north side of the

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 ...

. The

Grindheim stone The Grindheim stone (Norwegian: ''Grindheimsteinen'') is a runestone from Grindheim Church in Etne municipality in Hordaland, Norway. History The Vang stone was erected during the transitional period from Paganism to Christianity in Norway ca ...

stands near the north exterior wall. It is a tall stone and it was found in the cemetery wall. It is a memorial stone from around the year 1050 with a carved cross and the runic inscription: "Tormod erected this stone in honour of Tormod Svidade's father". The stone cross in front of the church dates from the period immediately after the

Christianization of Norway The Christianization of Scandinavia, as well as other Nordic countries and the Baltic countries, took place between the 8th and the 12th centuries. The realms of Denmark, Norway and Sweden established their own Archdioceses, responsible directly ...

References

{{use dmy dates, date=May 2020 Etne Churches in Vestland Long churches in Norway Wooden churches in Norway 18th-century Church of Norway church buildings Churches completed in 1724 13th-century establishments in Norway

History

See also

References