Undrumsdal Church on:
[Wikipedia]
[Google]
[Amazon]
Undrumsdal Church ( no, Undrumsdal kirke) is a
The earliest existing historical records of the church date back to the year 1315, but the church was not built that year. The first church in Undrumsdal was likely a wooden stave church that was built in the early 12th century (before the 1120s) at Rød, a site about to the south-southwest of the present church site.
In 1730, the old church was torn down and a new church was built on the same site. The new church was owned by the Count of Jarlsberg, but half the cost of the church was paid for by the congregation. The new church had a
Undrumsdal kirke - front.jpg
Undrumsdal Kirke 2.jpg
Undrumsdal Kirke 3.jpg
UndrumsdalKirke2.JPG
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 Tønsberg Municipality
Tønsberg () is a municipality in Vestfold county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Jarlsberg. The administrative centre of the municipality is the city of Tønsberg which was established in the 9th century. Other larger pop ...
in Vestfold
Vestfold is a traditional region, a former county and a current electoral district in Eastern Norway. In 2020 the county became part of the much larger county of Vestfold og Telemark. Located on the western shore of the Oslofjord, it bordered th ...
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 Undrumsdal. It is the church for the Undrumsdal 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 Tønsberg domprosti (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 Tunsberg. 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 1882 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 ...
F. Rasmussen. The church seats about 162 people.
History
The earliest existing historical records of the church date back to the year 1315, but the church was not built that year. The first church in Undrumsdal was likely a wooden stave church that was built in the early 12th century (before the 1120s) at Rød, a site about to the south-southwest of the present church site.
In 1730, the old church was torn down and a new church was built on the same site. The new church was owned by the Count of Jarlsberg, but half the cost of the church was paid for by the congregation. The new church had a 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, whi ...
floor plan and a pulpit altar and seats for about 100 people. The church was constructed during the summer of 1730 and it 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 ...
by Bishop Bartholomæus Deichman on 22 September 1730. The Count sold the church in 1775, and it went through several other owners before 1876 when it became owned by the congregation. By then, the building was in poor condition. It was then decided to build a new church on a site approximately to the north. The new site was chosen because the old site had a lot of rocky ground which was problematic as a burial ground. The new site had much better ground for the cemetery.
In 1882, the new church was constructed on the new site and the old church was torn down. The church 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 ...
the same year. The new church was a wooden 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 ...
that was designed and built by F. Rasmussen from Horten
is a town and municipality in Vestfold in Vestfold og Telemark county, Norway—located along the Oslofjord. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Horten. The municipality also includes the town of Åsgårdstrand an ...
. It was designed 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 ...
with 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.
Ove ...
that was the same width as the nave. The choir floor is a small step higher than the floor of the nave, and the church has a chancel partition in the form of a kind of screen wall with openings. There is 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 ...
that extends off of the chancel to the east. On the west end of the nave, there was a church porch with a large tower above it. The building was renovated in 1981 and again in 1998.
Media gallery
See also
*List of churches in Tunsberg
This list of churches in Tunsberg is a list of the Church of Norway churches in the Diocese of Tunsberg in Norway. It includes all of the parishes in Buskerud and Vestfold counties. The diocese is based at the Tønsberg Cathedral in the city of T ...
References
{{use dmy dates, date=February 2024 Tønsberg Churches in Vestfold Long churches in Norway Wooden churches in Norway 12th-century churches in Norway 12th-century establishments in Norway