Hedrum Church () is a medieval

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

Hedrum Hedrum is a former municipality in Vestfold county, Norway. The municipality existed from 1838 until its dissolution in 1988. The area is now part of Larvik Municipality. The administrative centre was the village of Nanset (from 1978-1988; prio ...

, along the river

Numedalslågen Numedalslågen is a river in Norway. It is considered to be the second longest river in Southern Norway. It is located in the Numedal valley which runs through the counties of Vestfold, Buskerud and Vestland. At long, it is of the longest rivers ...

. It is the church for the Hedrum

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 red wood and brown/gray stone church was built in a Romanesque

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 1100 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. As a medieval building, it automatically has protected cultural heritage status.

History

Hedrum Church is named in the

Borgarting The Borgarting () was one of the four regional legislative assemblies or '' lawthings'' (') of medieval Norway. Historically, it was the site of the court and assembly for the south-eastern coastal region of Norway, covering from Göta älv (now i ...

Christian law code (), written around the year 1080. It was one of six "county churches" () in the area around the

Oslo Fjord The Oslofjord (, ; ) is an inlet in southeastern Norway. The fjord begins at the small village of Bonn in Frogn Municipality and stretching northwards to the city of Oslo, and then curving to the east and then south again. It then flows south t ...

. Before the dioceses were created, the clergy of the county churches were appointed by the king. The first church in Hedrum was likely a wooden

post church Post church (Norwegian: ''stolpekirke'') is a term for a church building which predates the stave churches and differ in that the corner posts do not reside on a sill but instead have posts dug into the earth. Posts are the vertical, roof-bearin ...

that was built around the year 1060 (a celebration of the 950th anniversary of the church was held in 2010). During the first half of the 1100s, the wooden church was torn down and a new stone church was built on the same site. The new church was dedicated to the

archangel Michael Michael, also called Saint Michael the Archangel, Archangel Michael and Saint Michael the Taxiarch is an archangel and the warrior of God in Christianity, Judaism, and Islam. The earliest surviving mentions of his name are in third- and second ...

. The church originally was simply constructed with a

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

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 ...

. Not too long after its construction, an

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 ' ...

was built to the east of the

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 ...

. In 1666, the nave was extended by about to the west. 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 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.

Building

The church has a rectangular nave, a square

, and a semicircular

. Archaeological studies of the structure indicate that the apse was built later. The arch leading to the apse has the same configuration as the arch to the chancel, suggesting that they may have been created at the same time. All the worked stone is

granite Granite ( ) is a coarse-grained (phanerite, phaneritic) intrusive rock, intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly coo ...

. All windows except the east window of the nave were added after the

Reformation The Reformation, also known as the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation, was a time of major Theology, theological movement in Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the p ...

. The nave's north wall has always been windowless. The south

portal Portal may refer to: Arts and entertainment Gaming * ''Portal'' (series), a series of video games developed by Valve ** ''Portal'' (video game), a 2007 video game, the first in the series ** '' Portal 2'', the 2011 sequel ** '' Portal Stori ...

of the chancel is particularly elaborate and on the west wing there are two well-known motifs: the beard puller and the tongue puller. In 1859, a large wooden tower was built on the west end of the church building. The church underwent restoration in the 1920s. A new

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 ...

was built on the north side of the choir (previously there had been a sacristy at the south portal, but this was torn down). Also, the white plaster on the stone walls was removed, so that the stonework was all exposed.

Inventory

The

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, ...

was given to the church by Peder Tøgersen and Hilvig Mickelsdatter in 1664. There are two female figures carved on either side of inner part of the pediment; the one on the left represents Temperance, and the one on the right Wisdom. They are flanked by

Saint Peter Saint Peter (born Shimon Bar Yonah; 1 BC – AD 64/68), also known as Peter the Apostle, Simon Peter, Simeon, Simon, or Cephas, was one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus and one of the first leaders of the Jewish Christian#Jerusalem ekklēsia, e ...

holding a key and Saint John holding a chalice. The painting in the center shows the

Resurrection of Jesus The resurrection of Jesus () is Christianity, Christian belief that God in Christianity, God Resurrection, raised Jesus in Christianity, Jesus from the dead on the third day after Crucifixion of Jesus, his crucifixion, starting—or Preexis ...

. There are many gravestones with coats of arms covering large parts of the floor in the church. The church's gravestones are registered with the Genealogy Society of Norway (''DIS-Norge, Slekt og Data''). There is an Iron Age burial ground near the church.

Media gallery

Hedrum_alter.JPG, Altar pediment Madonna_Hedrum.JPG, Madonna from 1300 Hedrum_kirke.JPG, Apse

References

External links

Den norske kirke: Om Hedrum kirke

Kirkesøk: Hedrum kirke

Vestfold fylkeskommune: Hedrum kirke og gravfelt

''Heftet Vestfolds vakre middelalderkirker''

Kulturminnesøk: Hedrum kirkested
{{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 11th-century establishments in Norway Norwegian election churches