Nedstryn Church ( no, Nedstryn 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 Stryn Municipality in

Vestland Vestland is a county in Norway established on 1 January 2020. The county is located in Western Norway and it is centred around the city of Bergen, Norway's second largest city. The administrative centre of the county is the city of Bergen, where t ...

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

Nedstryn Nedstryn is a small village in Stryn Municipality in Vestland county, Norway. The village is located along the river Stryneelva, about east of the Stryn (village), village of Stryn and the same distance west of the large lake Oppstrynsvatnet. The ...

, just west of the municipal centre of Stryn. It is the church for the Nedstryn

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

Nordfjord prosti Nordfjord ( en, Northern fjord—in contrast to Sunnfjord) is a traditional district of Norway. Geography The region is located in the northern part of Vestland county in Western Norway. It centers on the Nordfjorden and it comprises the mun ...

( deanery) in the Diocese of Bjørgvin. The white, wooden church was built in a long church design in 1859 by Ludolph Rolfsen 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 ...

Hans Linstow Hans Ditlev Franciscus (Frants) von Linstow (4 May 1787 – 10 June 1851) was a Danish/Norwegian architect who designed the Royal Palace in Oslo and much of the surrounding park and the street ''Karl Johans gate''. Background Hans Ditlev Franc ...

. The church seats about 400 people.

History

The earliest existing historical records of the church date back to the year 1330, but it was not new at that time. 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 ar ...

that was probably built during the 13th century. For hundreds of years, the church was known as ''Stryn Church'' (it was later renamed ''Nedstryn Church''). Archaeologists have found items dating back to the Stone Age on this historic church site. The medieval stave church was demolished around 1650 and a new log

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 ...

church was built on the site. This church was tarred on the outside and had a tower over the

church porch A church porch is a room-like structure at a church's main entrance. A porch protects from the weather to some extent. Some porches have an outer door, others a simple gate, and in some cases the outer opening is not closed in any way. The porch ...

on the west end. By the mid-1800s the ailing old church building was in need of major repairs or replacement, so in 1855, it was decided to tear down the church and build a new one on the same site. The parish hired

Christian Heinrich Grosch Christian Heinrich Grosch (21 January 1801 – 4 May 1865) was a Norwegian architect. He was a dominant figure in Norwegian architecture in the first half of the 1800s. Biography Christian Heinrich Grosch was born in Copenhagen, Denmark. ...

to draw plans for a wooden

octagonal In geometry, an octagon (from the Greek ὀκτάγωνον ''oktágōnon'', "eight angles") is an eight-sided polygon or 8-gon. A '' regular octagon'' has Schläfli symbol and can also be constructed as a quasiregular truncated square, t, w ...

church. Next, the parish searched for a builder to construct the new church, but the only builder they could find was Gjert Lien from

Nordfjordeid Nordfjordeid is the administrative centre of the municipality of Stad in Vestland county, western Norway. It is located at the end of the Eidsfjorden, an arm off of the main Nordfjorden, west of the large lake Hornindalsvatnet. The village of ...

. Lien said he was unable to build the church based on these designs since it was a more "modern" octagonal design and he had only built more traditional designs. Since no other builder could be found, the parish had to change the plans. The parish then got drawings by Captain

Ludolph Rolfsen Ludolph may refer to: * Ludolph of Ratzeburg (d. 1250), Bishop of Ratzeburg and saint * Ludolph of Saxony (14th century), German ecclesiastical writer * Ludolph van Ceulen (1540-1610), German mathematician * Ludolph Berkemeier (1864-1930), Dutch la ...

for the construction of

Herøy Church Herøy Church ( no, Herøy kyrkje) is a parish church of the Church of Norway in the municipality of Herøy in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. It is located in the town of Fosnavåg, on the island of Bergsøya. It is the church for the Herø ...

. Rolfsen's drawings slightly modified drawings of a church that had been designed by

. The new church would be a wooden long church with a rectangular

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 ...

and a

with a tower on the west end and a

chancel In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may terminate in an apse. Ov ...

and sacristy on the east end. So after much planning, in 1859, the old church was demolished and a new building was constructed on the same site. The new church was consecrated on 6 November 1859 by Rev. Wilhelm Frimann Koren. In 1904, a wood stove was installed in the church to provide heat. In 1920, electric lighting was installed in the church. During a major renovation in 1934, the church interior was completely redone with new colors of paint. Also, the "new" altarpiece from 1919 was replaced with the old one from 1610 which had been found in the church attic. In 1959, the old wood stove was removed and electric heating was installed in the church. In 1963, bathroom facilities were added in the basement. In 1965, the church porch was enlarged on the north and south to add extra space for meeting and storage.

Media gallery

Nedstryn kirke 2012.jpg, Exterior view (2012) Nedstryn kirke.jpg, Exterior view Alterfront i Nedstryn Kirke.jpg, Altar artwork in the church

References

{{use dmy dates, date=August 2021 Stryn Churches in Vestland Long churches in Norway Wooden churches in Norway 19th-century Church of Norway church buildings Churches completed in 1859 13th-century establishments in Norway

History

Media gallery

See also

References