Tovdal Church ( no, Tovdal 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

Åmli Municipality Åmli is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Agder counties of Norway, county, Norway. It is located in the Districts of Norway, traditional region of Southern Norway, Sørlandet. The main population centre and administrative cen ...

Agder Agder is a county (''fylke'') and traditional region in the southern part of Norway. The county was established on 1 January 2020, when the old Vest-Agder and Aust-Agder counties were merged. Since the early 1900s, the term Sørlandet ("south ...

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

Hillestad Hillestad may refer to: Places *Hillestad, Agder, a village in the municipality of Åmli in Agder county, Norway *''Hillestad Church'', an old name for Tovdal Church in Åmli municipality in Agder county, Norway * Hillestad, Vestfold og Telemark, a ...

. It is one of the churches for the Åmli

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 Aust-Nedenes prosti ( deanery) in the Diocese of Agder og Telemark. The white, wooden church was built in a long church design in 1820 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 105 people.

History

The earliest existing historical records of the church date back to the year 1594, but the church was not new that year. The first church on this site was a

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 may have been built in the 13th century. The church was known as the ''Hillestad'' church since it was located on the Hillestad farm and the parish was historically known as ''Lille Topdal''. In 1723, the King sold the church during the

Norwegian church auction The Norwegian church sale ( no, kirkesalget) was a comprehensive and systematic sale of most of the church properties in Norway during the 1720s. The purpose of this sale was the intention of improving the poor public finances in the Kingdom of Denm ...

to raise money to pay off his war debts. In 1780, the people of the parish raised money to purchase the church from private ownership and since then it has been owned by the parish. In 1802 the church was described as being in good condition, but by 1818 the church had plans to add on to the old building by building 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 ...

and to use the old church as the

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 sp ...

and sacristy. The church began to work on this, but they were rebuked by the Bishop for failing to obtain the proper permits from the diocese. As they began to work on the building, it was deemed in such poor condition that they just tore down the whole building in 1820. Immediately after the old building was taken down, construction on a new wooden church was begun on the same site. It is not known who designed the building, but some have speculated that it was Gjermund Gunnarson Veum who built the nearby

Gjøvdal Church Gjøvdal Church ( no, Gjøvdal kyrkje) is a parish church of the Church of Norway in Åmli Municipality in Agder county, Norway. It is located in the village of Askland in the Gjøvdal valley. It is the church for the Gjøvdal parish which is part ...

several years earlier. The new church was consecrated on 4 March 1827. The name of the parish was changed to Tovdal and since then the church has been known as ''Tovdal Church''. Originally, the church was unpainted on the exterior, but in 1837, the church exterior was painted red. In 1854, the church was painted white. The church underwent some restoration work during the 1930s and during that time, the exterior was painted red once again. In 1964, the church was painted white once again. In 1980, a sacristy was built on the eastern end of the building.

References

{{use dmy dates, date=January 2021 Åmli Churches in Agder Wooden churches in Norway 19th-century Church of Norway church buildings Churches completed in 1820 13th-century establishments in Norway

History

See also

References