Strand Church ( no, Strand kirke) 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. ...

Nord-Aurdal Municipality Nord-Aurdal is a municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Valdres. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town Fagernes. Other urban centres in Nord-Aurdal include the villages of Aurda ...

Innlandet Innlandet is a county in Norway. It was created on 1 January 2020 with the merger of the old counties of Oppland and Hedmark (the municipalities of Jevnaker and Lunner were transferred to the neighboring county of Viken on the same date). The n ...

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 Synnstrond. It is the church for the Svenes

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 ...

which is part of the

Valdres prosti The list of churches in Hamar is a list of the Church of Norway churches in the Diocese of Hamar which includes all of Innlandet county (plus two municipalities in Viken county) in Norway. The list is divided into several sections, one for each d ...

(

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 Hamar The Diocese of Hamar ( no, Hamar Bispedømme) is a diocese within the Church of Norway. The Diocese of Hamar includes all of the churches in Innlandet county plus the churches in Lunner in Viken county. Administratively, the diocese is divided ...

. The white, wooden church was built in a

cruciform Cruciform is a term for physical manifestations resembling a common cross or Christian cross. The label can be extended to architectural shapes, biology, art, and design. Cruciform architectural plan Christian churches are commonly described ...

design in 1735 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 ...

and then it was disassembled, moved, and rebuilt in 1860. The church seats about 230 people.

History

The earliest existing historical records of the church date back to the year 1307, but the church was not built that year. The first church 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 likely built during the 13th century. This church was built on the Svenes farm, about northwest of the present church site. This church was known as ''Svenes Church''. Not much is known about that building. During the 1500s, the old stave church had a fire and burned, but it was rebuilt soon afterwards. In 1702, the church was so rotten that the parish asked for permission to build a new church. While they waited for permission, timber was cut and delivered to the church site. The timber laid at the site for a long time, and the fear was that by the time permission was granted that the wood would no longer be good. The old church was torn down around 1733. Work on the new church took place in 1734 and it 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 ...

by the bishop in 1735. The new church was a

log building Log buildings and structures can be categorized as historic and modern. A diverse selection of their forms and styles with examples of architectural elements is discussed in the following articles: *Log cabin – a rustic dwelling *Log house – a ...

with small windows. The church had a tower at the west entrance and there was no sacristy. The old church site was on the outskirts of the parish, and in the middle of the 19th century the idea of moving the church was brought up on several occasions. The decision was finally made in 1858. In 1860, the old church was disassembled and moved about to the southeast to Synnstrond so it would be more centrally located within the parish. At the new site, the church was rebuilt, roughly following the same design, although it was necessary to replace part of the timber. This time, the tower was built over the centre 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-typ ...

rather than on the west end. The church has a

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 ...

in the eastern cross arm and a new sacristy was built on the east end of the choir. A new

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 ...

was built on the west end of the

. The interior and exterior were all paneled to cover up the log building. The newly rebuilt church was

on 17 October 1860 at since that time, it has been known as ''Strand Church'', but the parish kept the historical name ''Svenes''.

Media gallery

Strand kirke, Valdres - no-nb digifoto 20160223 00411 NB NS NM 08133.jpg Strand kirke, Valdres - no-nb digifoto 20150226 00122 NB MIT FNR 00258.jpg

References

{{use dmy dates, date=January 2022 Nord-Aurdal Churches in Innlandet Cruciform churches in Norway Wooden churches in Norway 18th-century Church of Norway church buildings Churches completed in 1735 13th-century establishments in Norway

History

Media gallery

See also

References