Old Bømlo Church or Old Vorland Church ( or ) 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 ...

Bømlo Municipality Bømlo () is a municipality in the southwestern part of Vestland county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Sunnhordland. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Svortland. Other villages in Bømlo in ...

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 Vorland, just northeast of the village of

Langevåg Langevåg is the administrative center of Sula Municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. The village is situated at the end of the road on the north side of the island of Sula, about northwest of the village of Mauseidvåg. The village ...

on the southern tip of the island of Bømlo. It was once the main church for the Bømlo

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 Sunnhordland 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 1621 using plans drawn up by an unknown

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 ...

. The church seats about 150 people.

History

The first church in the Langevåg area was probably a small wooden

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 may have been built during the 13th century. This church was located a Voll, about west of the present day "Old Bømlo Church". The earliest existing historical records of the church date back to the mid-1300s where the church is referred to in the index of a book, but the page it was discussed on is missing. In the early 1600s, it was decided to move the church site closer to the village, so a new site at the Vorland farm was chosen (which is why it's sometimes called Vorland Church). In 1620, the old

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with the fall of the West ...

church was torn down and replaced with a new church on the new site in 1621. The new building was a wooden

with 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

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 ...

to the east and 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 ...

to the west. The church was rebuilt in 1885, with larger windows, new doors, and new second floor seating galleries. The ceiling was also rebuilt at the same time. A small

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 ...

on the east side of the choir was built in 1951. By the mid-20th century, the church had become too small for the congregation and so it was decided to build a new church for the parish and close the old church. In 1960, a new, modern

Bømlo Church Bømlo Church () is a parish church of the Church of Norway in Bømlo Municipality in Vestland county, Norway. It is located in the village of Langevåg on the southern tip of the island of Bømlo. It is the main church for the Bømlo parish whic ...

was built about to the southwest, closer to the main village centre of Langevåg. After the new church was completed, the old church was taken out of regular use, and it is now mostly for special events such as weddings and special services.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Old Bomlo Church Bømlo Churches in Vestland Long churches in Norway Wooden churches in Norway 17th-century Church of Norway church buildings Churches completed in 1621 13th-century establishments in Norway

History

See also

References