Hustad Church () is a preserved former

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 ...

Inderøy Municipality Inderøy is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Trøndelag Counties of Norway, county, Norway. It is part of the Innherad Districts of Norway, region. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Straumen, Trøn ...

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 just north of the village of

Gangstadhaugen Gangstadhaugen or Gangstad is a village in Inderøy Municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. It is located on the northern part of the Inderøya peninsula, near the shore of the Beitstadfjorden, about southeast of the village of Småland. Hust ...

. It is the former main church for the Sandvollan

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

Stiklestad 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 Romanesque, 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 ...

style around the year 1150. The church seats about 150 people. In 1887, the new

Heggstad Church Heggstad Church () is a parish church of the Church of Norway in Inderøy Municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. It is located at Sandvollan, just south of the village of Gangstadhaugen. It is the main church for the Sandvollan parish which ...

replaced this church. At that time, this church was closed and sold to the

Society for the Preservation of Ancient Norwegian Monuments Society for the Preservation of Ancient Norwegian Monuments () is an organization focused on conservation preservation in Norway. The Society was founded in 1844. The founders were painters, historians, art historians and archeologists, including ...

() to be maintained as a museum. The church is no longer regularly used, but it is used for special occasions.

History

The earliest existing historical records of the church date back to the year 1533, but the church was not new that year. The church was likely constructed around the year 1160. It is one of the few remaining stone churches from the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...

in Norway. Hustad Church was built of quarry stone. The masonry is almost completely preserved. The church has an entry porch on the west end with a tower above it. There is 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 narrower, rectangular

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 ...

. Dendrochronological datings from the church show that the trees used to build the roof structure of the nave was cut down in the years 1162–1163. Based on masonry technique and stylistic features at the portals, it can be concluded that the church was started in the first half of the 12th century and completed around 1163. The two portals to the north and south are arched in Romanesque style. After it was completed, the tower on the west end was constructed, completing that work around the year 1180. Some unique aspects of this small church include the

pew A pew () is a long bench seat or enclosed box, used for seating members of a congregation or choir in a synagogue, church, funeral home or sometimes a courtroom. Occasionally, they are also found in live performance venues (such as the Ryman ...

s which are original, and the cemetery which is surrounded by a log joined fence, the only such preserved fence in the traditional region of

. In 1650, the tower was replaced and rebuilt on top of the stone base that is the main entrance to the building. Also that year, a wooden

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 constructed on the north side of the building. Much of the interior

baroque The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...

-style furniture was added to the building during the renovations of 1650. The current

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, ...

is from 1702 and it has the image of the

Crucifixion of Jesus The crucifixion of Jesus was the death of Jesus by being crucifixion, nailed to a cross.The instrument of Jesus' crucifixion, instrument of crucifixion is taken to be an upright wooden beam to which was added a transverse wooden beam, thus f ...

. On the

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 ...

is the painted carvings of the

Evangelists Evangelist(s) may refer to: Religion * Four Evangelists, the authors of the canonical Christian Gospels * Evangelism, publicly preaching the Gospel with the intention of spreading the teachings of Jesus Christ * Evangelist (Anglican Church), a ...

. The church, like most other Norwegian churches, was sold at the

Norwegian church auction The Norwegian church sale () was a comprehensive and systematic sale of most of the church properties in Norway during the 1720s. The purpose of this sale was the intention of improving the poor public finances in the Kingdom of Denmark-Norway afte ...

in the 1720s so that the King could pay debts from the

Great Northern War In the Great Northern War (1700–1721) a coalition led by the Tsardom of Russia successfully contested the supremacy of the Swedish Empire in Northern Europe, Northern, Central Europe, Central and Eastern Europe. The initial leaders of the ant ...

. The last private owner sold the church to the people of the parish in 1838. The church was renovated and the interior painted in bright colors soon after that. An increase in the population and the Church Act of 1851, which required that church buildings have room to hold 30% of the people living in the parish, meant that the church was too small. In 1885, permission was granted to build a new church nearby (

). After the new church was put into use, the old church was closed and sold to the

() who maintains the building and runs it as a museum.

Gallery

Hustad kyrkje Inderøy fra nordvest 2.jpg, Exterior view Hustad kyrkje Inderøy fra galleriet.jpg, Nave and choir Hustad kyrkje Inderøy altertavla.jpg, Altar Hustad kyrkje Inderøy prekestol.jpg, Pulpit Hustad kyrkje Inderøy koret.jpg, Choir Hustad kyrkje Inderøy indre dør.jpg, Main entrance Hustad kirke 2016.jpg, Churchyard and cemetery Hustad church inderøy layout.jpg, Layout Hustad kyrkje Nidaros Wilse.jpeg, Exterior view (1927)

References

{{use dmy dates, date=May 2021 Inderøy Churches in Trøndelag Long churches in Norway Stone churches in Norway 12th-century churches in Norway 12th-century establishments in Norway Buildings and structures owned by the Society for the Preservation of Ancient Norwegian Monuments

History

Gallery

See also

References