Kjølsdalen 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 ...

Stad Municipality Stad is a municipality in Vestland county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Nordfjord. The municipality includes much of the northern shore of the Nordfjorden as well as the Stad peninsula. The administrative centre of the ...

Vestland Vestland is a Counties of Norway, county in Norway. The county is located in Western Norway, and its administrative centre is Bergen, where the executive and political leadership is based. The County governor (Norway), County Governor is based in ...

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

Kjølsdalen Kjølsdalen is a village in the municipality of Stad in Vestland county, Norway. The village is located on the northern shore of the Nordfjorden, about west of the village of Stårheim and about east of the village of Bryggja (in Vågsøy Mun ...

. It is the church for the Kjølsdalen

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 Nordfjord 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 Bjørgvin The Diocese of Bjørgvin () is one of the 11 dioceses that make up the Church of Norway. It includes all of the churches located in the county of Vestland in Western Norway, and those outside of Norway in the Seamen's Church. The cathedral cit ...

. 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 1940 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 ...

Hans Fredrik Crawfurd-Jensen. The church seats about 300 people.

History

Historically, the Kjølsdalen area was part of the

Davik Church Davik Church () is a parish church of the Church of Norway in Bremanger Municipality in Vestland county, Norway. It is located in the village of Davik. It is the church for the Davik parish which is part of the Nordfjord prosti (deanery) in the ...

parish in

Davik Davik is a former municipality in the traditional district of Nordfjord in the old Sogn og Fjordane county (now Vestland), Norway. The former municipality existed from 1838 until 1964 and it encompassed all the lands surrounding the outer par ...

municipality. During the 1870s, there was some bitter local strife about the location of the church in Davik. The people on the north side of the Nordfjorden wanted the church moved across the fjord to Haus (near Kjølsdalen) and the people on the south side wanted it to stay in the village of Davik where it had been for centuries. The parish council eventually agreed to move the church site, but this never came to fruition. In 1928, an auxiliary cemetery for the parish was built at Kjølsdalen since the graveyard at

was too small. Not long after this, the residents again began to push for a chapel at the cemetery. In 1935, the parish agreed to build a chapel by the Kjølsdalen cemetery. The parish chose to use architectural drawings made by Hans Fredrik Crawfurd-Jensen and they also hired the company ''Tennøe & Skaar'' as the building contractors. Construction of the church happened during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

and the building 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 September 1940–one of the very few churches built in Norway during the war. In 1954, the chapel was upgraded to the status of

. In 1965,

Davik Municipality Davik is a former municipality in the traditional district of Nordfjord in the old Sogn og Fjordane county (now Vestland), Norway. The former municipality existed from 1838 until 1964 and it encompassed all the lands surrounding the outer par ...

and its parish was dissolved and the Kjølsdalen area joined the neighboring Eid Municipality. In 1978–1979, bathrooms were added to the church using designs by Mathias Nes from the architectural firm ''Vaardal-Lunde''. The

1992 New Year's Day Storm The New Year's Day Storm (), known in Scotland as the 'Hogmanay Hurricane', was an extremely powerful and record-breaking European windstorm, comparable to a category 4 major hurricane, that affected much of northern Scotland and western Norway ...

caused extensive damage to the church. Afterwards, the church was renovated and

steel girders A girder () is a beam used in construction. It is the main horizontal support of a structure which supports smaller beams. Girders often have an I-beam cross section composed of two load-bearing ''flanges'' separated by a stabilizing ''web'', ...

were installed to strengthen the church's structure and prevent future storms from causing such damage. In 2009, damage from rot was discovered in the church and in 2011, the church was renovated again to remove and replace the rotting structure.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kjolsdalen Church Stad, Norway Churches in Vestland Long churches in Norway Wooden churches in Norway 20th-century Church of Norway church buildings Churches completed in 1940 1940 establishments in Norway

History

See also

References