Tjølling 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 ...

Larvik Municipality Larvik () is a municipality in Vestfold county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Vestfold. The administrative centre of the municipality is the city of Larvik. Other main population centres in the municipality include the ...

Vestfold Vestfold () is a county and a current electoral district in Norway. Located on the western shore of the Oslofjord, it borders Buskerud and Telemark counties. The county administration is located in Tønsberg, Norway's oldest city, and the larg ...

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

Tjøllingvollen Tjøllingvollen or Viksfjord is a village in Larvik Municipality in Vestfold county, Norway. The village is located about to the east of the town of Larvik. The village of Hem lies about to the northeast, the village of Verningen lies about ...

. It is the church for the Tjølling

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 Larvik 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 Tunsberg Tunsberg is a diocese of the Church of Norway. It includes all of the parishes located within the counties of Vestfold and Buskerud, with the cathedral located in the city of Tønsberg. The Diocese of Tunsberg consists of the cathedral deanery and ...

. The white, stone 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 around the year 1150 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 500 people.

History

The earliest existing historical records of the church date back to the year 1364 when the

rectory A clergy house is the residence, or former residence, of one or more priests or ministers of a given religion, serving as both a home and a base for the occupant's ministry. Residences of this type can have a variety of names, such as manse, p ...

burned down, but the church was not built that year. The church was likely built in the early 12th century under orders by King

Sigurd Jorsalfare Sigurd the Crusader (; ; 1089 – 26 March 1130), also known as Sigurd Magnusson and Sigurd I, was King of Norway from 1103 to 1130. His rule, together with his half-brother Øystein (until Øystein died in 1123), has been regarded by historian ...

. The building originally had a Romanesque design. During the 13th-century, it was remodelled to more of a Gothic design. After the Black Death in Norway, the conditions of the church went downhill. During the 15th century, there was a significant fire that nearly destroyed the church. The church is said to have been in bad shape for a long time afterwards. In 1759, an earthquake damaged the building and then again in 1760-1761 it was damaged by storms. In 1762–1764, the church was thoroughly rebuilt by a couple of German builders. Many of the walls were demolished and rebuilt, so that the weight of the roof structure would be carried by the walls instead of by interior columns. The roof was also rebuilt with its current characteristic

hipped roof A hip roof, hip-roof or hipped roof, is a type of roof where all sides slope downward to the walls, usually with a fairly gentle slope, with variants including tented roofs and others. Thus, a hipped roof has no gables or other vertical sides ...

. The old tower from 1698 was reinstalled on the new roof. In 1814, this church served as an

election church An election church () is a term used for approximately 300 churches in Norway that were used as polling stations during the elections to the Norwegian Constituent Assembly at Eidsvoll in 1814. This was Norway's first national elections and this ass ...

(). Together with more than 300 other parish churches across Norway, it was a polling station for elections to the 1814

Norwegian Constituent Assembly The Norwegian Constituent Assembly ( or ) is the name given to the 1814 constitutional assembly that adopted the Norwegian Constitution and formalised the dissolution of the union with Denmark. The meetings took place at the Eidsvoll Manor in th ...

which wrote the

Constitution of Norway The 'Constitution of Norway'' (complete name: The Constitution of the Kingdom of Norway; Danish language, Danish: ; Norwegian language, Norwegian Bokmål: ; Nynorsk, Norwegian Nynorsk: ) was adopted on 16 May and signed on 17 May 1814 by the N ...

. This was Norway's first national elections. Each

church 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 ...

was a constituency that elected people called "electors" who later met together in each county to elect the representatives for the assembly that was to meet in

Eidsvoll Eidsvoll (; sometimes written as ''Eidsvold'') is a Municipalities of Norway, municipality in Akershus Counties of Norway, county, Norway. It is part of the Romerike Districts of Norway, traditional region. The administrative centre of the munic ...

later that year. Lightning had struck the old church tower in 1783, 1800, and again in 1833, causing fire damage each time. In 1842, a new tower and spire was built on the centre part of the roof to replace the old, damaged tower. In 1864, the south portal entrance was bricked up and a window was inserted instead.

Media gallery

Tjølling kirke.jpg Tjølling kirke 22jun2005.jpg Tjølling kirke (detalje).JPG Minnebauta ved Tjølling kirke.jpg TJØLLING KIRKE - an10071112088019.jpg Tjølling kirke - no-nb digifoto 20151127 00022 NB MIT FNR 13932.jpg Prekestolen Tjoelling.JPG Altertavle Tj.JPG

References

{{use dmy dates, date=October 2023 Buildings and structures in Larvik Churches in Vestfold Long churches in Norway Stone churches in Norway 12th-century churches in Norway 12th-century establishments in Norway Norwegian election churches

History

Media gallery

See also

References