Eiken 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 ...

in Hægebostad Municipality in

Agder Agder is a counties of Norway, county () and districts of Norway, traditional region in the southern part of Norway and is coextensive with the Southern Norway region. The county was established on 1 January 2020, when the old Vest-Agder and Au ...

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 along the lake

Lygne Lygne is a lake in the municipality of Hægebostad in Agder county, Norway. The lake is part of the river Lygna. The lake begins near the village of Eiken in the north and stretches about to the south to the village of Tingvatn. Part of the ...

in the village of Eiken. It is the church for the Eiken

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 Lister og Mandal 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 Agder og Telemark The Diocese of Agder og Telemark () is a diocese of the Church of Norway, covering all of Agder county and Telemark county in Norway. The cathedral city is Kristiansand, Norway's fifth largest city. Kristiansand Cathedral serves as the seat of t ...

. The white, wooden church was built in a

cruciform A cruciform is a physical manifestation resembling a common cross or Christian cross. These include architectural shapes, biology, art, and design. Cruciform architectural plan Christian churches are commonly described as having a cruciform ...

design in 1817 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 300 people.

History

The earliest existing historical records of the church date back to the year 1417, but the church was not built that year. It is not known when the church was originally built, but in a church inspection in 1725, the church was described as "old". In 1818, the old church was torn down and replaced with a new cruciform building on the same site as the previous building. Some of the old materials from the previous building were reused in the construction of the new church building. In 1860, the cemetery was expanded to the northwest by adding an additional . Then in 1899-1900, the cemetery was expanded to the south by adding about .

References

{{use dmy dates, date=December 2020 Hægebostad Churches in Agder Wooden churches in Norway 19th-century Church of Norway church buildings Churches completed in 1817 14th-century establishments in Norway Cruciform churches in Norway

History

See also

References