Stoksund 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 ...

Åfjord Municipality Åfjord is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Trøndelag Counties of Norway, county, Norway. It is part of the Fosen Districts of Norway, region. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Å, Åfjord, Årnes ...

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 in the village of Revsnes, near the bridge to the island of

Stokkøya Stokkøya is an island in Åfjord Municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. The island is located in the northern part of the municipality. The largest village on the island is Harsvika. The tall mountain Kamman is the highest point on the is ...

. The church is located right at the south end of the Stokkøy Bridge from the mainland to the island of

. It is one of two churches in the ''Åfjord og Stoksund''

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

Fosen 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 red, 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 ...

style in 1825 using plans drawn up by the

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 ...

Christian Ancher Collett Christian Ancher Collett (30 April 1771 – 10 January 1833) was a Norwegian engineer, architect, and building inspector. He was born as the oldest child of Peter Collett and Johanne Henriche Ancher. He had two older half-siblings, Peter Collett ...

and another unknown architect. The church seats about 200 people.

History

The earliest existing historical records of the church date back to the year 1533, but the church was not new that year. The first church here was likely a small chapel that was built during the 14th century. Around the year 1670, the old chapel was torn down and replaced with a new Y-shaped church. By the year 1800, the church was rather dilapidated. In 1819, the local

provost Provost may refer to: Officials Ecclesiastic * Provost (religion), a high-ranking church official * Prince-provost, a high-ranking church official Government * Provost (civil), an officer of local government, including the equivalent ...

requested that the private owners of the church repair it, but they decided to build a new one instead. In 1825, a new church was constructed about northwest of the old church. It was moved to the top of a small hill a little further away from the other farm buildings, presumably to help prevent the spread of fires and give it a more prominent location. The new church had an

octagonal In geometry, an octagon () is an eight-sided polygon or 8-gon. A '' regular octagon'' has Schläfli symbol and can also be constructed as a quasiregular truncated square, t, which alternates two types of edges. A truncated octagon, t is a hex ...

design that measured which was designed by an unknown local architect who worked with

, a consultant for the Ministry of Church Affairs. It was

consecrate 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 ( ...

d on 10 July 1825 by Bishop

Peder Olivarius Bugge Peter Olivarius Bugge (2 December 1764 – 6 December 1849) was a Norwegian priest and politician. He was the bishop of the Diocese of Nidaros from 1804 until 1842. Biography Peter Olivarius Bugge was born at Holt, Aust-Agder, Holt in Aust-A ...

. In the 1880s, there was a desire to expand the church that was too cramped for the congregation. In the summer of 1885, the building was extended with square cross arms to the north and south, giving the building a more

design. At the same time the entrance areas in the extension were built, the building got new and larger windows, and the altar was moved into the northern cross arm. The changes in 1885 were planned by architect Ole Falck Ebbell. In the 1950s, the building was in poor condition so the architect

John Egil Tverdahl John Egil Tverdahl (1890 in Trondheim – 1969) was a Norwegian architect. Tverdahl designed many churches as well as led the restoration of several churches that were located in Nordmøre, Trøndelag, and Nordland in northern Norway. Tverdahl w ...

prepared plans for a restoration and renovation of the building. During the restoration in 1954-1955, the extensions from 1885 were demolished and completely rebuilt. 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 eastern end of the building and the altar was moved back to the eastern part of the

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 ...

References

{{use dmy dates, date=May 2021 Åfjord Churches in Trøndelag Cruciform churches in Norway Wooden churches in Norway 19th-century Church of Norway church buildings Churches completed in 1825 14th-century establishments in Norway

History

See also

References