Tjøme 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 ...

Færder Municipality Færder is a municipality in Vestfold county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Vestfold. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Borgheim. Other villages in the municipality include Årøysund, Bj ...

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 Tjøme. It is the church for the Tjøme

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

Tønsberg domprosti This list of churches in Tunsberg is a list of the Church of Norway churches in the Diocese of Tunsberg in Norway. It includes all of the parishes in Buskerud and Vestfold counties. The diocese is based at the Tønsberg Cathedral in the city of T ...

(

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 stone and brick 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 1867 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 ...

Anders Thorød. The church seats about 320 people.

History

The earliest existing historical records of the church date back to the year 1398, but the church was not built that year. The church may have been built in the 13th century. It was a stone church that was dedicated to

Saint Olaf Saint Olaf ( – 29 July 1030), also called Olaf the Holy, Olaf II, Olaf Haraldsson, and Olaf the Stout or "Large", was King of Norway from 1015 to 1028. Son of Harald Grenske, a petty king in Vestfold, Norway, he was posthumously given the ...

. The Romanesque stone church had 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 a smaller, narrower, rectangular

choir A choir ( ), also known as a chorale or chorus (from Latin ''chorus'', meaning 'a dance in a circle') is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform or in other words ...

with an internal

apse In architecture, an apse (: apses; from Latin , 'arch, vault'; from Ancient Greek , , 'arch'; sometimes written apsis; : apsides) is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical Vault (architecture), vault or semi-dome, also known as an ' ...

at the east end of the choir. By the mid-19th century, the church had become too small for the parish and plans for a new church on the same site were made. In 1865, the old church was torn down and construction began on the new church. Some stone from the old church was re-used in the construction of the new church. The new building was designed by Anders Thorød. It had a large rectangular

with a smaller

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 ...

and tower on the west end. The choir was flanked by

vestries A vestry was a committee for the local secular and ecclesiastical government of a parish in England, Wales and some English colonies. At their height, the vestries were the only form of local government in many places and spent nearly one-fi ...

. The exterior of the church was built of

larvikite Larvikite is an igneous rock, specifically a variety of monzonite, notable for the presence of thumbnail-sized crystals of feldspar. These feldspars are known as ''ternary'' because they contain significant components of all three endmember fe ...

and brick. It 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 ...

by the bishop on 12 September 1867. Inside, there is a second-floor seating gallery on the west end and along the north wall of the nave. Much of the interior furnishings were transferred from the old church building into this one. The church was extensively restored in 1949–1950, again in 1991, and again in 2004–2006.

Inventory

A carved baroque

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, ...

and a

pulpit A pulpit is a raised stand for preachers in a Christian church. The origin of the word is the Latin ''pulpitum'' (platform or staging). The traditional pulpit is raised well above the surrounding floor for audibility and visibility, accesse ...

with figures of the evangelists were both created in the period from 1670–1676. The stained-glass windows were made in

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

and were consecrated in 1901. There are four church bells in the tower; two from

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

dating to 1707 and 1712 and two were cast in 1937 at

Olsen Nauen Bell Foundry The Olsen Nauen Bell Foundry () is a Norway, Norwegian Bellfounding, bell foundry located in the municipality of Tønsberg. The foundry was established in 1844 by Ole Olsen, and it is headed today by the sixth generation of the Olsen Nauen fam ...

Tønsberg Tønsberg (), historically Tunsberg, is a List of towns and cities in Norway, city in Tønsberg Municipality in Vestfold county, Norway. It is located about south-southwest of the capital city of Oslo on the western coast of the Oslofjord near ...

. The cemetery outside the church is the site of the grave of author

Alf Larsen Alf Larsen (22 July 1885 – 12 December 1967) was a Norwegian poet, essayist and magazine editor. He founded and edited the anthrophosophic magazine from 1933 to 1941. His literary awards include the Gyldendal's Endowment (1959) and ...

(1885-1967).

Media gallery

Tjøme kirke.JPG Tjøme kirke Lutheran church nygotisk langkirke 1866 Arch. Anders Thorød summer. Færder Municipality, Vestfold County, Norway. Southern wall Kirkegård gravsteiner Cemetery 2023-07-21 IMG 8367.jpg Tjøme kirke Lutheran church nygotisk langkirke 1866 Arch. Anders Thorød summer. Færder Municipality, Vestfold County, Norway. Port steingjerde dør portal tårn gate tower trær trees 2023-07-21 IMG 8387 2.jpg Tjøme kirke Lutheran church nygotisk langkirke 1866 Arch. Anders Thorød summer. Færder Municipality, Vestfold County, Norway. Kirkegård gravsteiner Cemetery port steingjerde dør portal 2023-07-21 IMG 8377.jpg Tjøme kirke Lutheran church nygotisk langkirke 1866 Arch. Anders Thorød summer. Færder Municipality, Vestfold County, Norway. Front portal dør trapp 2023-07-21 IMG 8374.jpg Tjøme kirke Church nygotisk langkirke 1866 Architect Anders Thorød Winter afternoon light No snow Tårn Tower Færder Vestfold Norway 2020-01-20 2058.jpg Tjøme kirke Church nygotisk langkirke 1866 Architect Anders Thorød Winter afternoon light No snow Færder Vestfold Norway Dør Door 2020-01-20 2028.jpg Tjøme kirke Church nygotisk langkirke 1866 Architect Anders Thorød Færder Vestfold Norway Port Gate Portal dør plakett Winter afternoon light No snow Vår Spring 2020-01-20 2067.jpg TJØME KIRKE (church) Færder kommune Norway Interiør (interior) Bisettelse Bårebuketter etter kiste er båret ut (funeral bouquets after coffin is carried outside) Kirkerom kirkeskip inngang benker galleri orgel etc (2021) 9362.jpg TJØME KIRKE (church) Færder kommune Norway Interiør (interior) Bisettelse Bårebuketter etter kiste er båret ut (funeral bouquets after coffin is carried outside) Kor altertavle (Abel Schrøder 1670-76) Krusifiks glassmalerier et.jpg TJØME KIRKE (church) Færder kommune Norway Interiør (interior) Koret alter alterring altertavle utskjæringer (altar wood carvings) Abel Schrøder 1670-76 glassmalerier etc (2021) 9354.jpg TJØME KIRKE (church) Færder kommune Norway Interiør (Interior) Prekestol (pulpit) etc Utskjæringer (wood carvings) Abel Schrøder 1670-76 (2021) 9345.jpg Tjøme kirke innside.jpg

References

External links

Photo of the old medieval church
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tjome Church Færder Churches in Vestfold Long churches in Norway Stone churches in Norway 19th-century Church of Norway church buildings Churches completed in 1867 13th-century establishments in Norway

History

Inventory

Media gallery

See also

References

External links