Dun 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 ...

Namsos Municipality (Norwegian language, Norwegian) or is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Trøndelag Counties of Norway, county, Norway. It is part of the Namdalen Districts of Norway, region. The administrative centre of the municipality is t ...

Trøndelag Trøndelag (; or is a county and coextensive with the Trøndelag region (also known as ''Midt-Norge'' or ''Midt-Noreg,'' "Mid-Norway") in the central part of Norway. It was created in 1687, then named Trondhjem County (); in 1804 the county was ...

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

Dun Dun most commonly refers to: *Dun gene, which produces a brownish-gray color (dun) in horses and other Equidae * Dun (fortification), an ancient or medieval fort Dun or DUN may also refer to: Places Scotland * Dun, Angus, a civil parish in ...

in the central part of the island of Jøa. It is the main church for the Fosnes

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

Namdal prosti This list of churches in Nidaros is a list of the Church of Norway churches in the Diocese of Nidaros in Norway. It includes all of the parishes in Trøndelag county. The diocese is based at the Nidaros Cathedral in the city of Trondheim (city), 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 Nidaros Nidaros is a diocese in the Lutheran Church of Norway. It covers Trøndelag county in Central Norway and its cathedral city is Trondheim, which houses the well-known Nidaros Cathedral. Since 10 September 2017, the Bishop of Nidaros is Herborg ...

. 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 ...

style in 1949 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 ...

Arne Sørvig. The church seats about 400 people.

History

The earliest existing historical records of the church date back to the year 1533, but the old church was likely built around the year 1250. Originally, the church served the whole Fosnes

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 ...

which included most of today's

and

Flatanger Municipality Flatanger is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Trøndelag Counties of Norway, county, Norway. It is part of the Namdalen Districts of Norway, region. The administrative centre of the municipality is Lauvsnes. Other villages incl ...

. The first church was located at Fosnes (along the Fosnavågen bay), about to the northeast of today's church site. Around the year 1560, the old church burned down and replaced with a new church on the same site in 1566. Not much is known about that church, but it was described in 1750 as a wooden building that was painted red with a slate roof. In 1770, the old church burned down and was replaced with a new church on the same site. In 1871, the church was struck by lightning and it burned to the ground. Planning for a new church began soon afterwards. A new building was designed by

Jacob Wilhelm Nordan Jacob Wilhelm Nordan (23 February 1824 – 11 April 1892) was a Danish-born, Norwegian architect. During his career, he was one of the most prolific church architects in Norway. Biography Nordan was born in Copenhagen, Denmark and came to Nor ...

and completed in 1872. It was a

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 ...

. Not long after, the church was again struck by lightning in 1896 when it burned down again. Planning for a new church began soon after once again, but this time there was much debate about where the church should be rebuilt. A royal resolution from 24 September 1898 ordered that the new parish church should be built in the village of

, in the middle of the island of Jøa about to the southwest of the old church site since that was more centrally located for the population of the island and less likely to be damaged by storms and lightning as it was further inland. So, a new

was designed by Ole Scheistrøen and it was built in village of

. The new church was

consecrate 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 ( ...

d in 1900. In 1926, a small Fosnes Chapel was constructed on the historic church site where the cemetery remained. The new church in Dun lasted just over 40 years when on 10 July 1944 a lightning strike hit the church and it burned down. The present church was built a few years later in 1949 to replace it. That building was

d on 24 July 1949 by the Bishop Arne Fjellbu.

References

{{use dmy dates, date=May 2021 Namsos Churches in Trøndelag Wooden churches in Norway Long churches in Norway 20th-century Church of Norway church buildings Churches completed in 1949 13th-century establishments in Norway

History

See also

References