Skafså Church ( no, Skafså kyrkje) is a

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the 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 community activitie ...

of the

Church of Norway The Church of Norway ( nb, Den norske kirke, nn, Den norske kyrkja, se, Norgga girku, sma, Nöörjen gærhkoe) is an Lutheranism, evangelical Lutheran denomination of Protestant Christianity and by far the largest Christian church in Norway. ...

Tokke Municipality Tokke is a municipality in Telemark in the county of Vestfold og Telemark in Norway. It is part of the traditional region of Vest-Telemark. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Dalen. The municipality of Tokk ...

Vestfold og Telemark Vestfold og Telemark (; ) is a county under disestablishment in Norway. The county is the southernmost one of Eastern Norway and consists of two distinct and separate traditional regions: the former counties of Telemark and (most of) Vestfold. T ...

county,

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

. It is located in the village of

Skafså Skafså is a parish in southern part of the municipality Tokke in Telemark, Norway. The Skafså Church was consecrated in 1839. The mountain farm Grimdalen, today a museum (Grimdalstunet), has farm buildings from the time of barter economy in the ...

. It is one of the churches for the ''Eidsborg, Mo, og Skafså'' parish which is part of the

Øvre Telemark prosti This list of churches in Agder og Telemark is a list of the Church of Norway churches in the Diocese of Agder og Telemark in Agder and Vestfold og Telemark counties in southern Norway. The diocese is based at the Kristiansand Cathedral in the cit ...

(

deanery A deanery (or decanate) is an ecclesiastical entity in the Roman 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 reside ...

) in the

Diocese of Agder og Telemark The Diocese of Agder og Telemark ( no, Agder og Telemark bispedømme) is a diocese of the Church of Norway, covering all of Agder county and most of Vestfold og Telemark county in Norway. The cathedral city is Kristiansand, Norway's fifth la ...

. The white, wooden church was built in a

long church Church building in Norway began when 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 instance under Urnes Stave ...

design in 1839 using plans drawn up by the architect

Hans Linstow Hans Ditlev Franciscus (Frants) von Linstow (4 May 1787 – 10 June 1851) was a Danish/Norwegian architect who designed the Royal Palace in Oslo and much of the surrounding park and the street ''Karl Johans gate''. Background Hans Ditlev Franci ...

. The church seats about 104 people.

History

The earliest existing historical records of the church date back to the year 1395, but the church was not new that year. The first church in Skafså was a wooden

stave church A stave church is a medieval wooden Christian church building once common in north-western Europe. The name derives from the building's structure of post and lintel construction, a type of timber framing where the load-bearing ore-pine posts ...

that was built during the 13th century. There is not much known about the church, other than an inspection report from 1668 where it is described as being similar to the nearby Mo Stave Church. The church had open-air corridors around the exterior of the building and it was probably built around a large stave pole in the centre of the building ( nn, Midtmastkyrkje). There are a few pieces that were in the old church that still exist including a

crucifix A crucifix (from Latin ''cruci fixus'' meaning "(one) fixed to a cross") is a cross with an image of Jesus on it, as distinct from a bare cross. The representation of Jesus himself on the cross is referred to in English as the ''corpus'' (Lati ...

, a table, and a Bible. By the late 1700s, the church was described as being a "distressed" wooden building that was "quite beautiful inside". 1837, the old church was torn down to make room for a new building. It is said that when they took down the large centre mast in the church, it came down with a large crash that could be heard all around the churchyard. After the old church was cleared away, work began on a new church on the same site. The new church was a wooden

that was designed by

. The church has 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 bell tower on the west end of a rectangular (and rather short)

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-typ ...

. On the east end, there is a rectangular

choir A choir ( ; also known as a chorale or chorus) is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform. Choirs may perform music from the classical music repertoire, which s ...

. The new building was

consecrated Consecration is the solemn dedication to a special purpose or service. The word ''consecration'' literally means "association with the sacred". Persons, places, or things can be consecrated, and the term is used in various ways by different grou ...

on 28 July 1839. During the 1950s, the church was restored and redecorated inside. A builder named Tresland was responsible for the carpentry work as the roof and floor were insulated. The benches were also rebuilt. The church interior was decorated with Biblical motifs by Kristian Kildal. The old

altar table An altar is a table or platform for the presentation of religious offerings, for sacrifices, or for other ritualistic purposes. Altars are found at shrines, temples, churches, and other places of worship. They are used particularly in paganism ...

from the old stave church was installed in the church during the restoration as well. The church was re-

on 30 August 1959. In 1975–1976, a sacristy was added on the east end of the choir.

Media gallery

Tokke, Skafså kyrkje gapestokk.JPG Tokke, Skafså kyrkje steinmerr.JPG Krusifiks fra Skafså (Unimus).jpg, Crucifix from the old Skafså Stave Church

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Skafsaa Church Tokke Churches in Vestfold og Telemark Long churches in Norway Wooden churches in Norway 19th-century Church of Norway church buildings Churches completed in 1839 13th-century establishments in Norway

History

Media gallery

See also

References