Hustad Church ( no, Hustad 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

Hustadvika Municipality Hustadvika is a municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. It is located in the traditional districts of Nordmøre and Romsdal. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Elnesvågen. Other villages in the municipality ...

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 village of

Hustad Hustad is a village in Hustadvika Municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. It lies along the Hustadvika coastal area. The village of Hustad is located in the Nerland urban area which covers about and has a population (2013) of 249. Hu ...

along the

Hustadvika Hustadvika is a long section of coastline in Fræna Municipality in Romsdal, Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. It is located in the shipping route between the towns of Molde and Kristiansund. Unlike most of the Norwegian coast, there are no lar ...

coast. It is the church for the Hustad

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

Molde domprosti Molde () is a town and List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Møre og Romsdal Counties of Norway, county, Norway. It is located in the Traditional districts of Norway, traditional district of Romsdal. It is located on the Romsdal Pen ...

(arch- 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, wooden church was built in a long church design in 1874 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 ...

Jacob Wilhelm Nordan Jacob Wilhelm Nordan (23 February 1824 – 11 April 1892) was a Danish-born, Norwegian architect. During his career, he was one of the most prolific church architects in Norway. Biography Nordan was born in Copenhagen, Denmark and came to Norw ...

. The church seats about 400 people.

History

The earliest existing historical records of the church date back to 1589, but that was not the year the church was constructed. The first church in Hustad was a

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 ar ...

that was likely built in the 12th century. The church stood about northwest of the present church site. The church is located on the Hustad farm which is mentioned in 1123 in the (the saga of the sons of

Magnus Magnus, meaning "Great" in Latin, was used as cognomen of Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus in the first century BC. The best-known use of the name during the Roman Empire is for the fourth-century Western Roman Emperor Magnus Maximus. The name gained wid ...

) in the

Heimskringla ''Heimskringla'' () is the best known of the Old Norse kings' sagas. It was written in Old Norse in Iceland by the poet and historian Snorre Sturlason (1178/79–1241) 1230. The name ''Heimskringla'' was first used in the 17th century, derive ...

when the story tells about how King Øystein died suddenly at Hustad. At some point, the stave church had deteriorated and a new timber-framed church was built next to it. In 1646, records show that both the old and new churches were still standing near each other. The

timber-framed Timber framing (german: Holzfachwerk) and "post-and-beam" construction are traditional methods of building with heavy timbers, creating structures using squared-off and carefully fitted and joined timbers with joints secured by large woode ...

church had a

cruciform Cruciform is a term for physical manifestations resembling a common cross or Christian cross. The label can be extended to architectural shapes, biology, art, and design. Cruciform architectural plan Christian churches are commonly describe ...

design. At some point, the old stave church was torn down. In 1718, a

lightning strike A lightning strike or lightning bolt is an electric discharge between the atmosphere and the ground. Most originate in a cumulonimbus cloud and terminate on the ground, called cloud-to-ground (CG) lightning. A less common type of strike, ground- ...

caused the church to burn down and it took 20 years before it was replaced. In 1738, a new cruciform church was built on the same site. The

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 ...

of the new building measured . In the 1870s, the church was found to be too small for the congregation, so it was torn down and its materials were auctioned off. The pulpit was sent to the Sandvig Collections (''Sandvigske Samlinger'') at the

Nordic Museum The Nordic Museum ( sv, Nordiska museet) is a museum located on Djurgården, an island in central Stockholm, Sweden, dedicated to the cultural history and ethnography of Sweden from the early modern period (in Swedish history, it is said t ...

Maihaugen Maihaugen (''De Sandvigske Samlinger på Maihaugen, Lillehammer'') is one of the most visited tourist attractions in Lillehammer, Norway. Maihaugen, with close to 200 buildings, is one of Northern Europe's largest open-air museums and is one of th ...

in Lillehammer. The pulpit was later moved to the

Garmo Stave Church Garmo Stave Church () is a stave church situated at the Maihaugen museum at Lillehammer in Innlandet, Norway. Garmo Stave Church at Maihaugen is one of the most visited stave churches in Norway. Description Garmo Stave Church originally cam ...

. A new, larger church was built in 1874. The new church was built about southeast of the old church site, right outside the old cemetery which surrounded the old church. The church bell and the brass baptismal font from the old 1738 church were saved and installed in the new church. The new church was designed by

and it was built by the master carpenter

Jacob Digre Jacob Digre (1811–1891) was a Norwegian architect and builder. Digre's firm was one of the largest construction companies in Northern Norway. He built and designed several monumental buildings in Trondheim including Hjorten, Frimurerlogen, ...

. The new building was consecrated in 1875.

Media gallery

Hustad kirke 2012.jpg Hustad kirke.jpg

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hustad Church (Fraena) Hustadvika (municipality) Churches in Møre og Romsdal Long churches in Norway Wooden churches in Norway 19th-century Church of Norway church buildings Churches completed in 1874 12th-century establishments in Norway

History

Media gallery

See also

References