Vegårshei Church ( no, Vegårshei kirke, locally: ) 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 Vegårshei Municipality in

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 Myra. It is the church for the Vegårshei

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

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 ...

design in 1808 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 ...

Knud Torkildsen Skjerkholt. The church seats about 350 people.

History

The earliest existing historical records of the church date back to the year 1347, but it may have been built in the 1200s. 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 ...

and it was an annex to the main

prestegjeld A ''prestegjeld'' was a geographic and administrative area within the Church of Norway (''Den Norske Kirke'') roughly equivalent to a parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a di ...

Gjerstad Gjerstad is a municipality in Agder county, Norway. It is located in the traditional region of Sørlandet, in the southeastern part of the county, along the border with Telemark county. The administrative centre of the municipality is the vil ...

. In 1630, the church was expanded, but only 37 years later, in 1667, the church was torn down and a new church was built on the same site. The peasants in the parish purchased the church from the King in 1723 and during the next 40–50 years they made many improvements to the building. Despite this, by the early 1800s, the church was in poor shape. A new church was commissioned to replace it and Knud Skjerkholt was hired to lead the construction. The old church was torn down in 1808 and a new church was built on the same site. The church was not consecrated until 19 August 1810 when the local

Dean Dean may refer to: People * Dean (given name) * Dean (surname), a surname of Anglo-Saxon English origin * Dean (South Korean singer), a stage name for singer Kwon Hyuk * Dean Delannoit, a Belgian singer most known by the mononym Dean Titles * ...

Krogh from Arendal came to the church. The tower originally stood in the centre of the cross-shaped roof, but in 1863 the cross was moved to the top of the western cross-arm over the main entrance to the building. A major interior renovation happened in 1902 where the floors and benches were replaced and paneling covered the interior walls. The changes were considered quite drastic and after about 30 years, they were all undone and the interior was restored to the original look.

References

{{use dmy dates, date=January 2021 Vegårshei Churches in Agder Wooden churches in Norway Cruciform churches in Norway 19th-century Church of Norway church buildings Churches completed in 1808 13th-century establishments in Norway

History

See also

References