Høre Stave Church ( no, Høre stavkyrkje) 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 ...

Vang Municipality Vang is a municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Valdres. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Vang i Valdres. Other villages in Vang include Hænsgardane, Nystuen, Ø ...

Innlandet Innlandet is a county in Norway. It was created on 1 January 2020 with the merger of the old counties of Oppland and Hedmark (the municipalities of Jevnaker and Lunner were transferred to the neighboring county of Viken on the same date). The ...

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 Kvien. It is the church for the Høre

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

Valdres prosti The list of churches in Hamar is a list of the Church of Norway churches in the Diocese of Hamar which includes all of Innlandet county (plus two municipalities in Viken (county), Viken county) in Norway. The list is divided into several sections ...

(

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 Hamar The Diocese of Hamar ( no, Hamar Bispedømme) is a diocese within the Church of Norway. The Diocese of Hamar includes all of the churches in Innlandet county plus the churches in Lunner in Viken county. Administratively, the diocese is divided ...

. The brown, 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 ...

design around the year 1179 using plans drawn up by an unknown

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 ...

. The church seats about 170 people.

History

The earliest existing historical records of the church date back to the year 1327, but the church was not built that year. The first Høre church was a wooden

post church Post church (Norwegian: ''stolpekirke'') is a term for a church building which predates the stave churches and differ in that the corner posts do not reside on a sill but instead have posts dug into the earth. Posts are the vertical, roof-bearin ...

(a church with earth-bound posts standing directly on the ground) that was built in the 11th century. Over 100 years later, around the year 1179, the old church was torn down and a new wooden

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 a ...

was constructed on roughly the same site. The new church had a

design. Through a

dendrochronological Dendrochronology (or tree-ring dating) is the scientific method of dating tree rings (also called growth rings) to the exact year they were formed. As well as dating them, this can give data for dendroclimatology, the study of climate and atmos ...

study of the church, the wood is dated to the years 1178-1179. A

runic Runes are the letters in a set of related alphabets known as runic alphabets native to the Germanic peoples. Runes were used to write various Germanic languages (with some exceptions) before they adopted the Latin alphabet, and for specialised ...

inscription upon the medieval

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 ...

reads: which translates to ''The brothers Erling and Audun had the timber for this church felled, the summer that Erling Jarl fell in

Nidaros Nidaros, Niðarós or Niðaróss () was the medieval name of Trondheim when it was the capital of Norway's first Christian kings. It was named for its position at the mouth (Old Norse: ''óss'') of the River Nid (the present-day Nidelva). Althou ...

''. This refers to the

Battle of Kalvskinnet A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force ...

in 1179, which supports the dendrochronological evidence that the church was built in 1179. There are also several other runic inscriptions, and items with runic inscriptions in the church. There are also a number of graves under the church, including those of children, some of which pre-date the present church which lends support to the fact that a previous church stood on roughly the same site before the present church. Over the years, the church was repaired several times including in the 1660s, 1680s, 1724, and 1740. In 1822, the church was significantly renovated and expanded. The work was led by builder Ole J. Ulen from Slidre. During this project, the old

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 ...

was torn down and a new, larger choir was built. Also, 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 ...

was lengthened by extending it towards west. It was also widened by taking the old open-air corridors that once surrounded the church and incorporating them into the north and south sides of the nave. In 1857, the old rooftop was taken down and a new tower was built on a reinforced construction over the ceiling. There was another extensive restoration and rebuilding in 1888-1889. The exterior walls received paneled siding to cover the

log building Log buildings and structures can be categorized as historic and modern. A diverse selection of their forms and styles with examples of architectural elements is discussed in the following articles: *Log cabin – a rustic dwelling *Log house – a ...

construction. The church also received a

sacristy A sacristy, also known as a vestry or preparation room, is a room in Christian churches for the keeping of vestments (such as the alb and chasuble) and other church furnishings, sacred vessels, and parish records. The sacristy is usually located ...

addition and a new slate roof. In 1970, the church was restored under the leadership of Bjarne Hvoslef. In 1952, the floors were taken up and rot-damaged wood was removed and replaced with new materials. In 1979, the floors were once again sagging so the floors were again taken up and repaired. During this work, archaeological investigations were also carried out. The excavation uncovered artifacts including 357 coins. The oldest of the coins dates back to a period 1042–1047.

Media gallery

Høre stave church, aerial view.jpg Høre stave church.jpg FV293 Høre stavkirke.jpg Høre stavkirke 1880.jpg Høre x1.jpg

History

Media gallery

See also

References

Related reading