Våle Church () is a

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the Church (building), 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 com ...

of the

Church of Norway The Church of Norway (, , , ) is an Lutheranism, evangelical Lutheran denomination of Protestant Christianity and by far the largest Christian church in Norway. Christianity became the state religion of Norway around 1020, and was established a ...

Tønsberg Municipality Tønsberg () is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Vestfold county, Norway. It is located in the Traditional districts of Norway, traditional district of Jarlsberg. The administrative centre of the municipality is the Tønsberg, ...

Vestfold Vestfold () is a county and a current electoral district in Norway. Located on the western shore of the Oslofjord, it borders Buskerud and Telemark counties. The county administration is located in Tønsberg, Norway's oldest city, and the larg ...

county,

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

. It is located in the village of Kirkevoll. It is the church for the Våle

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christianity, Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest#Christianity, priest, often termed a parish pries ...

which is part of the

Tønsberg domprosti 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 ...

(

deanery A deanery (or decanate) is an ecclesiastical entity in the 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 residence of ...

) in the

Diocese of Tunsberg Tunsberg is a diocese of the Church of Norway. It includes all of the parishes located within the counties of Vestfold and Buskerud, with the cathedral located in the city of Tønsberg. The Diocese of Tunsberg consists of the cathedral deanery and ...

. The white, stone church was built in a

long church Church building in Norway began when Christianity in Norway, 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 inst ...

design around the year 1190 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 244 people.

History

The earliest existing historical records of the church date back to the year 1346, but the church was not built that year. The first church in Våle was likely a wooden church that was probably built during the 11th century. The area of Våle was Christianized by

Olaf Tryggvason Olaf Tryggvason (960s – 9 September 1000) was King of Norway from 995 to 1000. He was the son of Tryggvi Olafsson, king of Viken ( Vingulmark, and Rånrike), and, according to later sagas, the great-grandson of Harald Fairhair, first King ...

during the 900s, and the first church was likely built after that time. The Våle area has many pre-Christian

burial mounds A tumulus (: tumuli) is a mound of earth and stones raised over a grave or graves. Tumuli are also known as barrows, burial mounds, mounds, howes, or in Siberia and Central Asia as ''kurgans'', and may be found throughout much of the world. ...

, so the area must have been an important site before Christian times. Around the year 1190, the old wooden church was torn down and replaced with the present Romanesque stone church. The church is said to have been built by Danish and German craftsmen. Originally, the church was far simpler than today. It was likely just 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 ...

and

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

(no

sacristy A sacristy, also known as a vestry or preparation room, is a room in Christianity, 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 us ...

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 ...

, or bell tower). The original church may have had a small clock tower on the roof. The nave and chancel were both built in a rectangular shape, but the inside of the chancel had a curved

apse In architecture, an apse (: apses; from Latin , 'arch, vault'; from Ancient Greek , , 'arch'; sometimes written apsis; : apsides) is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical Vault (architecture), vault or semi-dome, also known as an ' ...

. The church was dedicated to

Saint Olav Saint Olaf ( – 29 July 1030), also called Olaf the Holy, Olaf II, Olaf Haraldsson, and Olaf the Stout or "Large", was King of Norway from 1015 to 1028. Son of Harald Grenske, a petty king in Vestfold, Norway, he was posthumously given the ...

on Saint Sunniva's Day (July 8). In 1673, the Count of Jarlsberg took over ownership of the church from the

King of Denmark-Norway King is a royal title given to a male monarch. A king is an Absolute monarchy, absolute monarch if he holds unrestricted Government, governmental power or exercises full sovereignty over a nation. Conversely, he is a Constitutional monarchy, ...

. Soon after, the Count decided to renovate the church. The church underwent a big renovation. Then again in 1747, the church underwent another large renovation and expansion. The old

was torn down and the

was extended to the east and a new

was constructed. Also, a new

was built on the east end of the new chancel. The interior furnishings were also replaced during this period. Due to financial difficulties, Count Gustav Wilhelm Wedels had to sell the county's churches. He sold Våle Church in 1770 to the merchant Hegaard in

Holmestrand is a List of towns and cities in Norway, town in Holmestrand Municipality in Vestfold county, Norway. The town is the administrative centre of the municipality. It is located along the shore of the Ytre Oslofjord, about northwest of the Horten ...

, for 1,200 rigsdaler. Hegaard also had financial difficulties, and eventually declared bankruptcy. The church was then handed over to his son-in-law, the auditor general Jens Flor from Haugeboe in

Asker Asker (), also called Asker proper (''Askerbygda'' or ''gamle Asker'' in Norwegian), is a district and former Municipalities of Norway, municipality in Akershus, Norway, located approximately 20km southwest of Oslo. From 2020 it is part of the ...

as collateral. Flor sold the church in 1804 to shipowner and merchant Rasmus Alsing from

. In 1808, he died and his son inherited the church. Rasmus Alsing died in 1858, and in 1859 the parish bought the church. In 1871, a new

and bell tower were added to the west end of the nave. The interior was changed on the same occasion, including new ceilings and windows. This also included getting rid of the medieval pulpit and limestone baptismal font and replacing them with new ones. The tower was unstable and had to be reinforced several times, most recently in 1951. In 1956–1957, the church interior was renovated and updated. The interior was extensively restored in 2004–2006 and then in 2010 the interior was returned to its 1870 look.

Media gallery

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References

{{use dmy dates, date=February 2024 Tønsberg Churches in Vestfold Long churches in Norway Stone churches in Norway 12th-century churches in Norway 11th-century establishments in Norway

History

Media gallery

See also

References