Hessdalen Church ( no, Hessdalen 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 ...

Holtålen Holtålen is a municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. It is part of the Gauldalen region. The administrative centre of the municipality is located in the Ålen area of the village of Renbygda. Other villages in the municipality include Hess ...

municipality in

Trøndelag Trøndelag (; sma, Trööndelage) is a county in the central part of Norway. It was created in 1687, then named Trondhjem County ( no, Trondhjems Amt); in 1804 the county was split into Nord-Trøndelag and Sør-Trøndelag by the King of Denmar ...

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

Hessdalen Hessdalen is a village in the municipality of Holtålen in Trøndelag county, Norway. Hessdalen also refers to the long valley that surrounds the village. Hessdalen is located in the central part of the village, approximately south of the cit ...

. It is the church for the Hessdalen

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

Gauldal prosti This list of churches in Nidaros is a list of the Church of Norway churches in the Diocese of Nidaros which covers all of Trøndelag county in Norway. The list is divided into several sections, one for each deanery in the diocese. Administra ...

(

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 Nidaros Nidaros is a diocese in the Lutheran Church of Norway. It covers Trøndelag county in Central Norway and its cathedral city is Trondheim, which houses the well-known Nidaros Cathedral. Since 10 September 2017, the Bishop of Nidaros is Herborg ...

. The red, 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 ...

style in 1940 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 ...

John Egil Tverdahl John Egil Tverdahl (1890 in Trondheim – 1969) was a Norwegian architect. Tverdahl designed many churches as well as led the restoration of several churches that were located in Nordmøre, Trøndelag, and Nordland in northern Norway. Tverdahl ...

. The church seats about 186 people.

History

Hessdalen is a fairly remote mountain valley with only one road connecting the valley to the rest of the municipality. The Hessdalen valley got its own cemetery in 1905, and the parish priest was required to meet twice a year at the new cemetery to perform funerals. Soon after, the people of the valley began requesting a chapel to go along with the new cemetery. During the 1930s, planning began for a new chapel. Around 1940 the chapel was constructed, but it was not fully finished until 1942, likely due to the effects of

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

of the new building was

and Arne S. Gynnild was the lead builder. It was not until 3 July 1949 that the new chapel was formally

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. Even after the consecration, there was still some remaining work that needed to be finished to complete the new building. The chapel builders had limited financial resources, but they obtained the

pulpit A pulpit is a raised stand for preachers in a Christian church. The origin of the word is the Latin ''pulpitum'' (platform or staging). The traditional pulpit is raised well above the surrounding floor for audibility and visibility, access ...

from the old

Ålen Church Ålen Church ( no, Ålen kirke) is a parish church of the Church of Norway in Holtålen municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. It is located in the village of Renbygda. It is the church for the Ålen parish which is part of the Gauldal prost ...

, which had been stored on the Støvne farm after the church had been torn down. The owner had bought it at auction when the church was torn down. The

altarpiece An altarpiece is an artwork such as a painting, sculpture or relief representing a religious subject made for placing at the back of or behind the altar of a Christian church. Though most commonly used for a single work of art such as a painting o ...

is from the 17th century and it too was from the old stave church in Ålen.

References

{{use dmy dates, date=June 2021 Holtålen Churches in Trøndelag Long churches in Norway Wooden churches in Norway 20th-century Church of Norway church buildings Churches completed in 1940 1940 establishments in Norway

History

See also

References