Tiller Church ( no, Tiller 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 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 ...

Trondheim Trondheim ( , , ; sma, Tråante), historically Kaupangen, Nidaros and Trondhjem (), is a city and municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. As of 2020, it had a population of 205,332, was the third most populous municipality in Norway, and ...

municipality in

Trøndelag Trøndelag (; sma, Trööndelage) is a county in the central part of Norway. It was created in 1687, then named Trondhjem County ( no, Trondhjems Amt); in 1804 the county was split into Nord-Trøndelag and Sør-Trøndelag by the King of Denmar ...

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

Tiller A tiller or till is a lever used to steer a vehicle. The mechanism is primarily used in watercraft, where it is attached to an outboard motor, rudder post or stock to provide leverage in the form of torque for the helmsman to turn the rudder. ...

area in the city of Trondheim. It is the church for the Tiller

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 Heimdal og Byåsen prosti (

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 Nidaros Nidaros is a diocese in the Lutheran Church of Norway. It covers Trøndelag county in Central Norway and its cathedral city is Trondheim, which houses the well-known Nidaros Cathedral. Since 10 September 2017, the Bishop of Nidaros is Herborg ...

. 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 ...

style in 1901 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 ...

Johan Kunig. The church seats about 200 people.

History

The earliest existing historical records of the church date back to the year 1533, but the church was not new that year. The first church in Tiller was likely a stave church that may have been built during the 14th century. The first church was located about southeast of the present church site. In 1665, the old medieval church was torn down and replaced with a new building on the same site. The new

timber-framed Timber framing (german: Holzfachwerk) and "post-and-beam" construction are traditional methods of building with heavy timbers, creating structures using squared-off and carefully fitted and joined timbers with joints secured by large wooden ...

had 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 ...

and narrower, rectangular

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 ...

, a tower on the roof over the middle of the nave. In 1688, a new

porch A porch (from Old French ''porche'', from Latin ''porticus'' "colonnade", from ''porta'' "passage") is a room or gallery located in front of an entrance of a building. A porch is placed in front of the facade of a building it commands, and form ...

outside the west entrance was added. In 1801, the old church was torn down and a new church was built about north of the old church site. It was

consecrate 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 ...

d in 1801 by the Bishop

Johan Christian Schønheyder Johan Christian Schønheyder (9 August 1742 – 14 April 1803) was a Danish-Norwegian priest. He was the bishop of the Diocese of Trondhjem from 1788 until 1803. He was born in Copenhagen, Denmark in 1742 and died in 1803 in Trondheim, Norwa ...

, although some of the finish work and painting was completed until 1803. This new church was quite similar to the nearby

Klæbu Church Klæbu Church ( no, Klæbu kirke) is a parish church of the Church of Norway in Trondheim municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. It is located in the village of Klæbu. It is the church for the Klæbu parish which is part of the Heimdal og By ...

. It had an

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 slate roof. This church was destroyed by a violent landslide on the evening of 7 March 1816. The landslide caused damage and death to people and animals in the area. Soon after, planning for a new church began, but a new, safer site was to be chosen. A new church at Tiller was consecrated in 1820 on a small plateau about west of the medieval church site. The new building was

d on 29 September 1820. It was not completely finished by the day of its consecration. It was painted on the outside in 1825, and the

altarpiece An altarpiece is an artwork such as a painting, sculpture or relief representing a religious subject made for placing at the back of or behind the altar of a Christian church. Though most commonly used for a single work of art such as a painting o ...

, carved by Halvor Søbstad, was painted in 1831. This was also an octagonal timber church. In 1894 it was decided to move the church site to Sjetne, about northwest of the old church site. Controversy arose over this decision, but the relatively new church was sold for demolition anyway. The new church was constructed in 1900-1901 and the old church was sold and taken down around the same time. The new church was designed by Johan Kunig. It was

d on 4 January 1901. The new

had room for about 200 people and a tower on the west end. The church was renovated in 1946–1947. On 9 September 2001, the church was very heavily damaged in a fire that was likely

arson Arson is the crime of willfully and deliberately setting fire to or charring property. Although the act of arson typically involves buildings, the term can also refer to the intentional burning of other things, such as motor vehicles, wat ...

. Initially, there were concerns that the building could not be repaired, but in the end, the church was able to be repaired. The church was back in use in 2002 after a year of repairs.

Media gallery

Sjetnan og Tiller kirke FW-I-043728.jpg, Aerial view of the church (in 1952) TillerKirke2.jpg, Exterior view of the church (in 2009) Tiller kirke.jpg, Exterior view of the church (in 2013)

References

{{use dmy dates, date=June 2021 Churches in Trondheim Churches in Trøndelag Long churches in Norway Wooden churches in Norway 20th-century Church of Norway church buildings Churches completed in 1901 14th-century establishments in Norway

History

Media gallery

See also

References