Høyjord is a minor village in the municipality of

Sandefjord Sandefjord () is a city and the most populous municipality in Vestfold og Telemark county, Norway. The municipality of Sandefjord was established on 1 January 1838. The municipality of Sandar was merged into Sandefjord on 1 January 1969. On 1 ...

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 ...

, with a population of 379 as of 2005. It is famous for the

Høyjord Stave Church Høyjord Stave Church ( no, Høyjord stavkirke) is a stave church in the village of Høyjord in Andebu in the municipality of Sandefjord in Vestfold og Telemark county, Norway. It is the only stave church left in Vestfold County. It is also Norwa ...

. Høyjord, which was part of the former municipality of

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 ...

, was transferred along with Andebu into Sandefjord on 1 January 2017. Some Høyjord residents wanted the village transferred to neighbouring Re, but the village was ultimately merged into Sandefjord. The village is home to an elementary school, kindergarten, and various sports and youth organizations. Illestadvannet Lake is used for recreation and swimming. It is also home to the only stave church still found in Vestfold County. Høyjord's population was 385 as of 2020 and the village had a total area of 0.4 km² according to

Statistics Norway Statistics Norway ( no, Statistisk sentralbyrå, abbreviated to ''SSB'') is the Norwegian statistics bureau. It was established in 1876. Relying on a staff of about 1,000, Statistics Norway publish about 1,000 new statistical releases every yea ...

. Its name derives from the

Old Norse Old Norse, Old Nordic, or Old Scandinavian, is a stage of development of North Germanic languages, North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and t ...

“Haugagerði.” The Medieval stave church in Høyjord is the only stave church in Vestfold and one of three remaining center post churches (midtmastkirke) in Norway. The stave church is commonly dated to around the year 1300, however, parts of the church were constructed in the 1100s and in 1275. Høyjord, pronounced "Høyjol", derives from the farm name ''Haugagerði'', which means "fenced-in land of several mounds." The village name was previously written ''Haughagiaurdi'' (in 1374), ''Haughagiorde'' (1400), ''Haagiord'' and ''Haajord'' (1593), and later ''Høijord'' and Høyjord.Gallis, Arne (1975). ''Andebu bygdebok: Kulturbind''. Andebu kommune. Page 5.

References

Villages in Vestfold og Telemark Andebu {{Vestfold-geo-stub