Solum 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 ...

Skien Municipality Skien () is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Telemark county, Norway. It is located in the Traditional districts of Norway, traditional district of Grenland, although historically it belonged to Grenmar/Skiensfjorden, while Gr ...

Telemark Telemark () is a Counties of Norway, county and a current electoral district in Norway. Telemark borders the counties of Vestfold, Buskerud, Vestland, Rogaland and Agder. In 2020, Telemark merged with the county of Vestfold to form the county o ...

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

Solum The solum (plural, sola) in soil science consists of the surface and subsoil layers that have undergone the same soil forming conditions. The base of the solum is the relatively unweathered parent material. Solum and soils are not synonymous. So ...

, just west of the town of Skien. It is one of the churches for the ''Kilebygda og Solum''

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 Skien 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

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 in 1766 by the builder Joen Jacobsen. The church seats about 205 people.

History

The earliest existing historical records of the church date back to the year 1349, but the church was not built that year. The first church in Solum 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 may have been built in the 13th century. The old church was located about to the north of the present church building. The old church was dedicated to

John the Baptist John the Baptist ( – ) was a Jewish preacher active in the area of the Jordan River in the early first century AD. He is also known as Saint John the Forerunner in Eastern Orthodoxy and Oriental Orthodoxy, John the Immerser in some Baptist ...

. Not much is known about the old church, but it was said to be pretty dark, with only one window in the building. In 1580, a new

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 ...

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 ...

was added onto the church. In 1723, the church was sold into private ownership during the

Norwegian church sale 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 aft ...

when the King sold the churches to pay off 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 ...

. At that time, the church was not in good condition, but the new owner, Peder Alstrup, was unable to afford to fix up the building. In 1765, the church was sold to the county governor,

Frederik Georg Adeler Frederik Georg Adeler (1736-1810) was a Danish-Norwegian county official and landowner. He was the son of Frederik Adeler, as well as great-grandchild of Admiral Cort Adeler. Frederik Georg Adeler inherited and lived on the large estate at the ...

. The new owner immediately tore down the building and began constructing a new church. The new Solum church was built by master builder Joen Jacobsen. The building was

consecrated 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 (a ...

on 5 July 1766 by the Bishop Fredrik Nannestad. The building is a

built out of

log construction A log house, or log building, is a structure built with horizontal logs interlocked at the corners by notching. Logs may be round, squared or hewn to other shapes, either handcrafted or milled. The term "log cabin" generally refers to a smal ...

with exterior paneled siding. The main

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 ...

has a

to the east and a bell tower on the west end. 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 A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or ...

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. In 1824, the Adeler family sold the church to

Diderik von Cappelen Diderik von Cappelen (21 June 1761 – 3 April 1828) was a Norwegian wholesaler, merchant, shipowner, estate owner and politician in 1814. He is often referred to as Diderik von Cappelen but he spelt his name ''Didrich von Cappelen'' and is also ...

. A few years later, the new owners decided to fix up the church and they paid for some large repairs as well as new paint for the building. In 1832 or 1833, the bell tower blew down. It was rebuilt in 1833, but the new tower was a little lower and given a more

pyramidal A pyramid () is a structure whose visible surfaces are triangular in broad outline and converge toward the top, making the appearance roughly a pyramid in the geometric sense. The base of a pyramid can be of any polygon shape, such as triangu ...

-shaped top. The church was given to the municipality in 1854. In 1896 it was remodeled to make it look more modern. The interior walls were paneled and painted, the ceiling paintings were covered over with paint, and the old furnishings were removed. In 1902, the tower was rebuilt again, making it higher, with a tall point, and giving it a

neo-Gothic Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic or neo-Gothic) is an architectural movement that after a gradual build-up beginning in the second half of the 17th century became a widespread movement in the first half of the 19th century ...

. In 1957–1959, the church was restored again according to plans by Ragnar Nilsen. He tried to bring back the historic look with the old interior design and furnishings being brought back. During this project, the bell tower was also rebuilt to bring it back to the same look as the 1830s tower. The church was re-consecrated on 14 June 1959.

Media gallery

Solum Kirke2.JPG Bagdør (Solum Kirke).jpg Spiret på Solum Kirke.JPG Solum kirke - valgkirke.jpg Pulpitur i Solum Kirke.jpg Solum Kirke (koret).JPG Solum Kirke (altertavle).JPG Solum Kirke (døbefont).JPG

References

{{use dmy dates, date=December 2022 Buildings and structures in Skien Churches in Telemark Long churches in Norway Wooden churches in Norway 18th-century Church of Norway church buildings Churches completed in 1766 13th-century establishments in Norway Norwegian election churches

History

Media gallery

See also

References