Hedrum is a parish and the site of a historic church 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 th ...

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 ...

. Hedrum was annexed by Larvik on January 1, 1988.

History

The parish of Hedrum was established as a municipality on January 1, 1838 (see

formannskapsdistrikt () is the name for Norwegian local self-government districts that were legally enacted on 1 January 1838. This system of municipalities was created in a bill approved by the Parliament of Norway and signed into law by King Carl Johan on 14 January ...

). Small parts of Hedrum were transferred to the city of

Larvik Larvik () is a List of cities in Norway, town and Municipalities of Norway, municipality in Vestfold in Vestfold og Telemark Counties of Norway, county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the city of Larvik. The municipality ...

in 1855, 1875, 1937 and 1948. Border adjustments between Hedrum and the neighboring municipalities

Andebu Andebu is a village in Sandefjord municipality, Vestfold County, and a former municipality. The administrative centre of the municipality was the village of Andebu. The village is surrounded by forests, mountains, and hills. Its nearest cities a ...

Tjølling Tjølling is a former municipality in Vestfold county, Norway. Tjølling was established as a municipality January 1, 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt). Together with Brunlanes, Stavern and Hedrum, it was merged into Larvik on January 1, 1988. Tjøl ...

and Siljan also took place. Hedrum was incorporated into the enlarged Larvik municipality on January 1, 1988. Before the merger Hedrum had a population of 10,449. Hedrum located in

Lågendalen Lågendalen ( en, Lågen Valley) is a valley located in eastern Norway. Lågendalen forms the lower part of the valley through which the Numedalslågen flows between Kongsberg in Buskerud and Larvik in Vestfold. North of Kongsberg, the valley i ...

, the lower part of the valley that follows the river

Numedalslågen Numedalslågen is a river located in the counties of Vestfold and Telemark and Viken in southeastern Norway. It is one of the longest rivers in Norway. Location Numedalslågen stretches for over through the counties of Vestfold and Telemark and ...

. The valley is relatively flat, dominated by agricultural areas, valleys are wooded hills and go over the mountain peaks up to 500 meters. Among other things, the area is known for potato cultivation and fishing. Hedrum_kirke

Hedrum Church

Hedrum Church (''Hedrum Kirke'') is a medieval era church. It is one of several ancient stone churches within a vicinity which also includes churches at

Hem A hem in sewing is a garment finishing method, where the edge of a piece of cloth is folded and sewn to prevent unravelling of the fabric and to adjust the length of the piece in garments, such as at the end of the sleeve or the bottom of the ga ...

, as well as

Efteløt Efteløt is a small village in Kongsberg municipality, Buskerud, Norway. Efteløt is the location of Efteløt school (''Efteløt skole'') and Efteløt church (''Efteløt kirke''). Efteløt church was first constructed in Romanesque style from app ...

and Hedenstad in

Buskerud Buskerud () is a former county and a current electoral district in Norway, bordering Akershus, Oslo, Oppland, Sogn og Fjordane, Hordaland, Telemark and Vestfold. The region extends from the Oslofjord and Drammensfjorden in the southeast to Hardan ...

. Hedrum Church was built of stone around 1100 and has 260 seats. The church celebrated its 950-year anniversary in 2010. The church has a rectangular

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 ...

, square

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

apse In architecture, an apse (plural apses; from Latin 'arch, vault' from Ancient Greek 'arch'; sometimes written apsis, plural apsides) is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical vault or semi-dome, also known as an ''exedra''. In ...

. Building Archaeological studies show that the apse is added later. The structure was extended by four meters in 1666 . The west part with the portal and door openings are from after the

Reformation The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and in ...

. Hedrum Church has a number of tombstones, which cover large parts of the floor of the church. Hedrum Church cemetery is clearly visible from traffic arteries on both sides of

. Some of the graves are believed to pre-date the introduction of

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...

confirming the supposition that ancient pagan cult sites were chosen as the venue for the earlier churches. ''Hedrum Church, Larvik'' (Norway Attractions and Hotels)
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The name

The municipality (originally the parish) was named after the old farm Hedrum ( Norse ''Heiðarheimr''), since the first church was built there. The first element is the genitive case of ''heiðr'' f 'heath, moor', the last element is ''heimr''.

References

Other sources

* Ekroll, Øystein; Ladder, Morten; Havran, Jiri; (2000) ''Middelalder i Stein'' (Volume 1 of the series ''Kirker i Norge'') *Nyhus, Per (1999) ''Larvik A-Å'' (Larvik: Østlandsposten) *Krohn-Holm, Jan W. (1982) ''Hedrum bygdebok'' (Larvik: kulturhistorie)

External links

Hedrum Church website

{{Coord, 59.1232, 10.0596, region:NO-38, format=dms, display=title Former municipalities of Norway Populated places disestablished in 1988 Larvik 1838 establishments in Norway