Herøy Church ( no, Herøy 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 in the
municipality
A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate.
The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...
of
Herøy in
Møre og Romsdal 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 the ...
. It is located in the town of
Fosnavåg
is a town in the municipality of Herøy in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. It is the administrative center of the municipality of Herøy. The town is located on the island of Bergsøya, and it includes the Eggesbønes area on the south side ...
, on the island of
Bergsøya. It is the church for the Herøy
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 o ...
which is part of the
Søre Sunnmøre prosti (
deanery) in the
Diocese of Møre
The Diocese of Møre ( no, Møre bispedømme) is a diocese in the Church of Norway which geographically consists of Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. Its bishop is seated at the Molde Cathedral which is located in the county administrative center ...
. The white, concrete church was built in a
rectangular
In Euclidean plane geometry, a rectangle is a quadrilateral with four right angles. It can also be defined as: an equiangular quadrilateral, since equiangular means that all of its angles are equal (360°/4 = 90°); or a parallelogram containin ...
style in 2002 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 ...
s
Kine Tambs and
Hans Petter Madsø from an architecture firm from
Trondheim
Trondheim ( , , ; sma, Tråante), historically Kaupangen, Nidaros and Trondhjem (), is a city and municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. As of 2020, it had a population of 205,332, was the third most populous municipality in Norway, and ...
. The church seats about 700 people.
History
The earliest existing historical records of the church date back to 1432 where it was listed in
Aslak Bolt's cadastre and there was also mention of the priest from this church in 1385. The first "Herøy Church" was built during the 12th century on the eastern tip of the small island of Herøya, about southeast of the present church. This was a small stone church and it was the main church for all of the outer
Sunnmøre area. The church was a
long church design that consisted of 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 ...
which measured , plus it had 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 sp ...
on the south end of the nave.
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 t ...
which wrote the
Constitution of Norway. 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
...
later that year.
In 1859, the medieval stone church was torn down and it was replaced by a new wooden church located about to the west-northwest of the old church site. The foundation of the new church was made out of the old stone from the previous building.
In 1916 the parish was getting large and it was divided so that there would be a church for the outer islands and a church for the inner areas of the municipality. Since the church on Herøya was in the middle, it was decided to close the church on Herøya and build two other churches elsewhere. So, in 1916, a new church was built on the east coast of the island of
Gurskøy and this became the
Indre Herøy Church. The same year, the old Herøy Church was taken down, moved, and rebuilt in
Fosnavåg
is a town in the municipality of Herøy in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. It is the administrative center of the municipality of Herøy. The town is located on the island of Bergsøya, and it includes the Eggesbønes area on the south side ...
on the island of
Bergsøya. The builder was
Ole Havnæs from
Ålesund
Ålesund () sometimes spelled Aalesund in English, is a municipality in Møre og Romsdal County, Norway. It is part of the traditional district of Sunnmøre and the centre of the Ålesund Region. The town of Ålesund is the administrativ ...
. The church had 550 seats. It was
consecrated in 1916. This new Herøy Church was not rebuilt exactly like the old church, but rather it was extended and enlarged too. Many of the interior details were changed as well.
During the night of 26 December 1998 (
Boxing Day), Herøy Church burned down. Many works of art and furniture pieces from the Middle Ages were lost in the fire.
After the fire, the site was cleared and prepared for the construction of a new church. M. Kristiseter was hired as the building contractor. The parish hired the architectural firm Madsø-Sveen from
Trondheim
Trondheim ( , , ; sma, Tråante), historically Kaupangen, Nidaros and Trondhjem (), is a city and municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. As of 2020, it had a population of 205,332, was the third most populous municipality in Norway, and ...
to design the new church. Work on the new building began in January 2002 and it was completed in late 2002. It was
consecrated on 16 February 2003 by the Bishop
Odd Bondevik
Odd Bondevik (20 June 1941 – 6 September 2014) was a Norwegian theologian who was the Bishop of the Diocese of Møre in the Church of Norway from 17 November 1991 until retirement in 2008. He also served as Preses of the Bishop's Conference o ...
. The new church includes about of floor space on its two levels. The main
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 ...
is on the upper level and the lower level contains offices and classrooms.
Media gallery
Heroy kyrkje01.jpg, Present church (since 2002)
Herøy kirke.jpg, Present church (since 2002)
Herøy kirke 2 T312 01 0020.jpg, Previous church (1916-1998)
Herøy kirke 2 T312 01 0027.jpg, Interior of the previous church (1916-1998)
Herøy kirke brenner ii.jpg, Fire in Herøy Church (26 Dec 1998)
Herøy gamle kirkested.jpg, Medieval church site on Herøya
See also
*
List of churches in Møre
The list of churches in Møre is a list of the Church of Norway churches the Diocese of Møre which covers all of Møre og Romsdal county in Norway. This list is divided into several sections, one for each deanery (''prosti'' headed by a provos ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Heroy Church
Herøy, Møre og Romsdal
Churches in Møre og Romsdal
Rectangular churches in Norway
Concrete churches in Norway
21st-century Church of Norway church buildings
Churches completed in 2002
12th-century establishments in Norway
Norwegian election church