Kvenvær Church ( no, Kvenvær 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 ...

Hitra Hitra is a municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. The municipality covers the island of Hitra and hundreds smaller islands, islets, and skerries. It is part of the Fosen region. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village ...

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

Kvenvær Kvenvær is a fishing village in Hitra municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. The village is located on the northwestern coast of the island of Hitra. It is just south of the Bispøyan islands. The Kvenvær Church is located in the vill ...

on the northwestern coast of the island of Hitra. It is one of the churches for the ''Kvenvær og Sandstad''

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

Orkdal 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. Administrati ...

(

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 white, 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 1909 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 ...

Nils Ryjord Nils Ryjord (1875—1926) was a Norwegian architect. He designed several churches, but spent the majority of his career working on the restoration of the historic Nidaros Cathedral. Ryjord completed his education at the Norwegian Institute o ...

. The church seats about 500 people.

History

The earliest existing historical records of the church date back to the year 1589, but the church was not new that year. The first church was likely 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 built during the mid-1400s. It was originally located on the northwestern shore of the small island of Hakkebuøya about to the southwest of the village of

on the main island of Hitra. The church was on a small island that was surrounded by dozens of other small islands which were collectively referred to as the Kvenvær islands, hence the name of the church. According to parish priest Rosing's report to the diocesan leaders, the church was almost completely restored in 1703, when most of the wood including the roof, north wall, and floor were all rotting due to the exposed sea air. In 1732, the people of the parish petitioned for permission to build a

graveyard A cemetery, burial ground, gravesite or graveyard is a place where the remains of dead people are buried or otherwise interred. The word ''cemetery'' (from Greek , "sleeping place") implies that the land is specifically designated as a buri ...

at the church so that they wouldn't need to travel to Dolm Church to bury their dead. Permission for the graveyard was granted. The people of the parish were very happy, but soon after, problems were discovered with the site. The rocky land had a thin layer of soil on it, so coffins could not be buried as deep as they should have been, so farm animals such as pigs would dig around and leave exposed coffins so they had to fence in the graveyard. During burials, locals had to bring sand and dirt with to cover the coffins with and sometimes, they just piled rocks all over the coffin when soil wasn't available. The church established a couple of smaller auxiliary cemeteries on the nearby islands of Rørøya and Gangstøa. On 20 July 1756, the church was struck by lightning and it quickly burned down. After the fire, there was some deliberations, but it was decided to build a new

on the same site. The new church was completed and

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 14 July 1763 by the parish priest Ludvig Frederich Broch, who was said to have been disappointed because the bishop did not show up on this occasion. The building's

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 ...

originally measured and it had a

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 ...

that was . The church originally had seats for about 80 people. It did not have a tower or 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 ...

. In 1876, the nave was extended by about and a second floor seating gallery was added to add more seating to the church, bringing the church to a capacity of about 170 people. Around 1900, the parish began looking into the idea of moving the church site to the main island of

so it would be more accessible to the population and because they wanted a more suitable site for the parish cemetery. The decision to move the church was approved by

royal decree A decree is a legal proclamation, usually issued by a head of state (such as the president of a republic or a monarch), according to certain procedures (usually established in a constitution). It has the force of law. The particular term used for ...

on 14 March 1908 and the church was to be built on the Steine farm in the village of

. The new church was

on 9 December 1909 and it replaced the Old Kvenvær Church which had been located on the island of Hakkebuøya about to the southwest of the village of

on the main island of Hitra. The old church site had been there from the mid-15th century until it was closed in 1909. In 1934, the old church was deconstructed and moved to the village of

Forsnes Forsnes is a village in the municipality of Hitra in Trøndelag county, Norway. It is located on the southwestern corner of the island of Hitra, along the Trondheimsleia. It is about south of the village of Kvenvær and about west of the vil ...

where it was rebuilt and renamed

Forsnes Chapel Forsnes Chapel ( no, Forsnes kapell) is a parish church of the Church of Norway in Hitra municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. It is located in the village of Forsnes on the southwestern coast of the island of Hitra. It is one of the church ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kvenvaer Church Hitra Churches in Trøndelag Long churches in Norway Wooden churches in Norway 20th-century Church of Norway church buildings Churches completed in 1909 15th-century establishments in Norway

History

See also

References