Kinn Church ( no, Kinn 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 ...

Nordre Land Municipality Nordre Land is a municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Land. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Dokka. Other villages in the municipality include Vest-Torpa, Nord-To ...

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

Aust-Torpa Aust-Torpa is a village in Nordre Land Municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. The village is located on the eastern side of the river Dokka, about north of the village of Dokka. Kinn Church Kinn Church ( no, Kinn kyrkje) is a parish church ...

. It is one of the churches for the Torpa

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

Hadeland og Land 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) in Norway. The list is divided into several sections, one for each ...

(

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 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 ...

design in 1956 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 ...

Wilhelm Swensen. The church seats about 140 people.

History

The earliest existing historical records of the church date back to the year 1337, but the church was not built that year. The first church here was a 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 ...

that was likely built during the 13th century on the same location as the present church. Around the year 1652, a new

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 built on the west end of the old church, the old nave became the new

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 ...

and the old choir became 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 ...

. The old open-air corridors that surrounded the church were removed during this renovation. In 1663, the outside of the church received exterior wood siding to cover up 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 ...

. In 1750-1753 the church was again expanded. This time all of the remaining parts of the original stave church were demolished and the 1652 portion of the building was kept. The church was rebuilt into a timbered

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 described ...

church by adding three wings to the one remaining part of the building. The builder for this project was Sven Olsen Traaset. This addition must not have been well-built because by 1790, the church was described as "wretched". In 1817, the parish decided to tear down the church and to replace it with the new

Åmot Church Åmot Church ( no, Åmot kirke) is a parish church of the Church of Norway in Åmot Municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the village of Rena, Norway, Rena. It is the church for the Åmot parish which is part of the Sør-Øst ...

. In 1823, after the newly built Åmot Church was completed, the old Kinn Church was demolished. The furniture and salvaged materials from the building were sold to various people in the village. The cemetery remained in use after the old church was closed and torn down. The people who lived near the old Kinn church site started pushing for a new church of their own once again starting in the 1930s. A new church was designed by Wilhelm Swensen, and in 1941 most things were ready to proceed. Of course,

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 ...

got in the way and delayed this project for some time. It was not until 1956 that the work was carried out with the lead builder Arne Lybech from Snertingdal. The new wooden

was

consecrated 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 ...

on 16 September 1956.

References

{{use dmy dates, date=January 2022 Nordre Land Churches in Innlandet Long churches in Norway Wooden churches in Norway 20th-century Church of Norway church buildings Churches completed in 1956 13th-century establishments in Norway 1823 disestablishments in Norway 1956 establishments in Norway

History

See also

References