Skåre Church ( no, Skåre 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 in

Haugesund Municipality Haugesund () is a municipality on the North Sea in Rogaland county, Norway. While the population is greater in the neighboring Karmøy municipality, the main commercial and economic centre of the Haugaland region in northern Rogaland and southern ...

in Rogaland 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 town of Haugesund. It is one of the two churches for the Skåre

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

Haugaland 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) 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 white, wooden church was built in 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, w ...

style in 1858 using designs 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 ...

Christian Heinrich Grosch Christian Heinrich Grosch (21 January 1801 – 4 May 1865) was a Norwegian architect. He was a dominant figure in Norwegian architecture in the first half of the 1800s. Biography Christian Heinrich Grosch was born in Copenhagen, Denmark. ...

. The church seats about 450 people.

History

The earliest existing historical records of the church date back to the year 1301, but the church was not new that year. Historically, the old church was known as ''Haugo Church''. The first church here 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 was actually located across the street from its present location. On 15 May 1301, Bishop Arne of the

Ancient Diocese of Stavanger The former Catholic Diocese of Stavanger in Norway included the modern counties of Rogaland and Agder together with the regions of Valdres and Hallingdal and the parishes of Eidfjord and Røldal from Hordaland. It existed from the beginning of th ...

wrote that he was on a visit to Karmøy and Skåre. According to the historian, Snorri Sturluson, King

Harald Hårfagre Harald Fairhair no, Harald hårfagreModern Icelandic: ( – ) was a Norwegian king. According to traditions current in Norway and Iceland in the eleventh and twelfth centuries, he reigned from 872 to 930 and was the first King of Norw ...

was buried on Haugo (the old name for this area). The old stave church was repaired in 1620. In 1639, the church was torn down and a new church was built on the same site. In 1854, the town of Haugesund was established and it was separated from the rest of

Torvastad Torvastad is a former municipality in Rogaland county, Norway. The municipality existed from 1838 until 1965. The administrative centre was the village of Haugesund (from 1838 until 1855), and after that it was the village of Torvastad on the i ...

municipality to form a municipality of its own. The only local church close to the town was Skåre Church which was a small building, so a new main church was needed for the area. It was decided to build a new, larger Skåre Church, just outside the town of Haugesund to serve that part of Torvastad as well as the town of Haugesund. The two municipalities (Torvastad and Haugesund) split the cost with Haugesund paying 6,619

Norwegian speciedaler The rigsdaler specie was a unit of silver currency used in Norway, renamed as the speciedaler in 1816 and used until 1873. Norway used a common reichsthaler currency system shared with Denmark, Hamburg and Schleswig-Holstein until 1873 when the go ...

and Torvastad paid 5,679

for a grand total of 12,299

and 23 skilling. The new church was built across the street from the small Skåre Church and after it was completed in 1859, the old church was torn down. The new church was consecrated on 7 July 1858 and it served the town of Haugesund as well as the Skåre parish of Torvastad. It was not until 1901, when the town of Haugesund received its own church, Vår Frelsers Church.

Media gallery

Skåre kirke 1858 Church Haugesund Norway 2020-06-06 DSC09436.jpg Skåre kirke 1858 Church haugesund Norway 2020-06-06 DSC09030.jpg Skåre gml kirkegård.jpg, View of the site of the old church

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Skaare Church Haugesund Churches in Rogaland Wooden churches in Norway Octagonal churches in Norway 19th-century Church of Norway church buildings Churches completed in 1858 12th-century establishments in Norway

History

Media gallery

See also

References