Gjøvdal 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 ...

Åmli Municipality Åmli is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Agder counties of Norway, county, Norway. It is located in the Districts of Norway, traditional region of Southern Norway, Sørlandet. The main population centre and administrative cen ...

Agder Agder is a counties of Norway, county () and districts of Norway, traditional region in the southern part of Norway and is coextensive with the Southern Norway region. The county was established on 1 January 2020, when the old Vest-Agder and Au ...

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

Askland Askland is a village in Åmli municipality in Agder county, Norway. The village is located in the Gjøvdal valley, just north of the river Gjøv. The village of Homdrom lies about to the southeast and the municipal centre of Åmli lies about ...

in the

Gjøvdal Gjøvdal (historic: ''Gjevedal'') is a former municipality in the old Aust-Agder county in Norway. The municipality existed from 1908 until its dissolution in 1960. It covered the Gjøv river valley and the surrounding moors. It is currently pa ...

valley. It is the church for the Gjøvdal

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 Aust-Nedenes prosti (

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 Agder og Telemark The Diocese of Agder og Telemark () is a diocese of the Church of Norway, covering all of Agder county and Telemark county in Norway. The cathedral city is Kristiansand, Norway's fifth largest city. Kristiansand Cathedral serves as the seat of t ...

. 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 ...

design in 1803 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 ...

Gjermund Gunnarson Veum. The church seats about 200 people.

History

The earliest existing historical records of the church date back to the year 1421, but the church was likely founded during the 1200s. The church is believed to be located on the same site as an ancient

heathen hof A heathen hof or Germanic pagan temple is a temple building of Germanic religion (aboriginal), Germanic religion. The term ''hof'' is taken from Old Norse. Background Etymologically, the Old Norse word ''hof'' is the same as the Dutch language, ...

. The first 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 ...

that served the whole Gjøvdal valley. The church was historically known as ''Askland Church'' since it is located in the village of Askland, but around the 1600s, it began to be known as the ''Gjøvdal Church'', after the valley in which it is located. In 1724, the priest Niels Pedersen purchased all the churches in the

Åmli Åmli is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Agder counties of Norway, county, Norway. It is located in the Districts of Norway, traditional region of Southern Norway, Sørlandet. The main population centre and administrative cen ...

prestegjeld A ''prestegjeld'' was a geographic and administrative area within the Church of Norway (''Den Norske Kirke'') roughly equivalent to a parish. This traditional designation was in use for centuries to divide the kingdom into ecclesiastical areas tha ...

when the King put them up for sale to help pay off his war debts. Over the years, the ownership of the church passed between different people. In 1779, the people of the Gjøvdal area purchased the church together so that the congregation could own the building. After purchasing the church, the parish noted that the church was in poor condition and repairs were undertaken to improve the building. By the 1800s, the church was still in poor condition and the repairs had not helped a lot, so it was decided to tear down and replace the old

. The church was torn down in the spring of 1803. A new, larger

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 ...

church was built that same year on the same site by Gjermund Gunnarson Veum from

Fyresdal Fyresdal is a municipality in Telemark county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Vest-Telemark. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Moland. Other villages in Fyresdal include Kilegrend, Øvre Bir ...

, a neighboring valley to the north. It has 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 ...

, a straight-ended

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 ...

and a

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 ...

to the east. To the west there is a tower with an entry porch at the base of the tower. During construction in the summer of 1803, the services took place outdoors. In the autumn of 1803, the church was enclosed, so the priest received permission from the bishop to use the church, although it took a couple more years before the church was fully completed. The

altarpiece An altarpiece is a painting or sculpture, including relief, of religious subject matter 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 or sculpture, ...

is called ''Gethsemane'' and it was completed in 1922. There was some restoration work done in 1953 to celebrate the 150th anniversary of its completion.

References

{{use dmy dates, date=January 2021 Åmli Churches in Agder Wooden churches in Norway 19th-century Church of Norway church buildings Churches completed in 1803 13th-century establishments in Norway

History

See also

References