Old Orre Church ( no, Orre gamle 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 ...

in Klepp Municipality in

Rogaland Rogaland () is a Counties of Norway, county in Western Norway, bordering the North Sea to the west and the counties of Vestland to the north, Vestfold og Telemark to the east and Agder to the east and southeast. In 2020, it had a population of 47 ...

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 Orre. It formerly was the main church for the Orre

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

Jæren prosti This list of churches in Rogaland is a list of the Church of Norway churches in Rogaland county, Norway. The churches are all part of the Diocese of Stavanger. The diocese is based at the Stavanger Cathedral in the city of Stavanger. The list ...

(

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 Stavanger The Diocese of Stavanger ( no, Stavanger bispedømme) is a diocese in the Church of Norway. It covers all of Rogaland county in western Norway. The cathedral city is Stavanger, where the Stavanger Cathedral is located. The bishop is Anne Li ...

. The small stone 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 ...

style around the year 1250 using designs by English

monk A monk (, from el, μοναχός, ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a person who practices religious asceticism by monastic living, either alone or with any number of other monks. A monk may be a person who decides to dedica ...

s. The church seats about 150 people. It is situated on a small sandy strip of land between the lake

Orrevatnet Orrevatnet is a lake in the municipality of Klepp in Rogaland county, Norway. The lake is the largest lake in Jæren. The lake sits about above sea level and it is situated along the seashore. The wide sandy beach strip of land that separate ...

and the Orrestranda beach along the

North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. An epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian S ...

History

The earliest existing historical records of the church date back to the year 1448, but the church was likely built in a Romanesque style around the year 1250 by monks from England. The original stone church measured about . The thick walls are constructed of

soapstone Soapstone (also known as steatite or soaprock) is a talc-schist, which is a type of metamorphic rock. It is composed largely of the magnesium rich mineral talc. It is produced by dynamothermal metamorphism and metasomatism, which occur in the zo ...

which have been plastered and painted white. In 1865, the church was enlarged and renovated. A wooden addition extending 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 ...

an additional to the east was constructed as well as a small porch at the west entrance to the building. Also during this renovation, the original small, arched windows were removed and much larger rectangular windows were installed, greatly changing the appearance of the building. During the renovation, embalmed corpses were found buried under the altar of the old church. The bodies were very well preserved. They were reburied under the new location of the altar after the renovation was completed. In 1950, the "new"

Orre Church Orre Church ( no, Orre kyrkje) is a parish church of the Church of Norway in Klepp Municipality in Rogaland county, Norway. It is located in the village of Pollestad. It is the main church for the Orre parish which is part of the Jæren prosti (d ...

was completed in the nearby village of

Pollestad Pollestad is a village in Klepp municipality in Rogaland county, Norway. The village is located south of the lake Orrevatnet and about southwest of the town of Bryne. Orre Church is located in Pollestad. It was built in 1950 to replace the nearl ...

. After the completion of the new church, the old church was taken out of regular use. It is now a museum, but it is still occasionally used for special services or weddings.

References

{{use dmy dates, date=September 2020 Klepp Churches in Rogaland Stone churches in Norway 13th-century churches in Norway Churches completed in 1250 13th-century establishments in Norway

History

See also

References