Øksendal 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 ...

Sunndal Municipality is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in the Nordmøre Districts of Norway, region located in the northeast part of Møre og Romsdal counties of Norway, county, Norway. The administrative center of the municipality is the village o ...

Møre og Romsdal Møre og Romsdal (; ) is a Counties of Norway, county in the northernmost part of Western Norway, Western Norway. It borders the counties of Trøndelag, Innlandet, and Vestland. The county administration is located in the Molde (town), town of M ...

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 Øksendalsøra. It is the church for the Øksendal

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

Indre Nordmøre prosti Indre (); is a department in central France named after the river Indre. The inhabitants of the department are known as the ''Indriens'' (masculine; ) and ''Indriennes'' (feminine; ). Indre is part of the current administrative region of Centre ...

(

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 Møre The Diocese of Møre () is a diocese in the Church of Norway which geographically consists of Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. Its bishop is seated at the Molde Cathedral which is located in the county administrative center of Molde. , the Bisho ...

. The white, wooden 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 ...

style with a

neo-Gothic Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic or neo-Gothic) is an architectural movement that after a gradual build-up beginning in the second half of the 17th century became a widespread movement in the first half of the 19th century ...

design in 1894 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 ...

Adolf Schirmer. The church seats about 260 people.

History

The earliest existing historical records of the church date back to 1309, but that was not the year the church was built. The original church was located at Husby, about south of the present location of the church. It was likely built during the 13th century. The church 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 ...

. At some point before the 1600s, the church was enlarged by adding stave

transept A transept (with two semitransepts) is a transverse part of any building, which lies across the main body of the building. In cruciform ("cross-shaped") cruciform plan, churches, in particular within the Romanesque architecture, Romanesque a ...

s to the north and south to give the church a

cruciform A cruciform is a physical manifestation resembling a common cross or Christian cross. These include architectural shapes, biology, art, and design. Cruciform architectural plan Christian churches are commonly described as having a cruciform ...

design. In 1655, the eastern cross-arm which held the

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 ...

was torn down and rebuilt. The new chancel was re-built using the more modern

timber-framed Timber framing () and "post-and-beam" construction are traditional methods of building with heavy Beam (structure), timbers, creating structures using squared-off and carefully fitted and Woodworking joints, joined timbers with joints secure ...

construction while the rest of the building was still the old

construction from the 13th century. At the end of the 1660s, the old corridors that ran around the church were removed. In 1711, the church was described as being in very poor condition with many sections of wood that were rotting. In 1712, the medieval church was torn down and a new building was constructed on the same site. The new building was a timber-framed cruciform design with a

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 ...

and

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 ...

. Some of the materials from the old church were reused in the new building. By the late-1800s, the church was again in very poor condition and it was decided to tear down the building and construct a new church. This time, however, it was decided to move the church to the north, a little closer to the village of Øksendalsøra. The new church was built in 1894 using designs by Adolf Schirmer and the lead builder was Ole Eriksen Schei. The church was a

. The new church was built in a north–south orientation (most old Norwegian churches are in an east–west orientation). The new church was

consecrated Sacred describes something that is dedicated or set apart for the service or worship of a deity; is considered worthy of spiritual respect or devotion; or inspires awe or reverence among believers. The property is often ascribed to objects (a ...

on 13 July 1894.

Media gallery

Vår i Øksendal.jpg Øksendal kirke 2013.jpg Øksendal kirke 2018.jpg Øksendal kirke, Øksendal.jpg

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Oksendal Church Sunndal Churches in Møre og Romsdal Long churches in Norway Wooden churches in Norway 19th-century Church of Norway church buildings Churches completed in 1894 13th-century establishments in Norway

History

Media gallery

See also

References