Stranda Church ( no, Stranda 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. ...

Indre Fosen Indre Fosen is a municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Fosen. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Årnset. Other villages in Indre Fosen include Askjem, Dalbygda, H ...

municipality in

Trøndelag Trøndelag (; sma, Trööndelage) is a county in the central part of Norway. It was created in 1687, then named Trondhjem County ( no, Trondhjems Amt); in 1804 the county was split into Nord-Trøndelag and Sør-Trøndelag by the King of Denmar ...

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

Vanvikan Vanvikan is a village in the municipality of Indre Fosen in Trøndelag county, Norway. It is located along the Trondheimsfjord in the southeastern part of the municipality. The village of Seter lies about northeast of Vanvikan and the lake St ...

, on the shore of the

Trondheimsfjorden The Trondheim Fjord or Trondheimsfjorden (), an inlet of the Norwegian Sea, is Norway's third-longest fjord at long. It is located in the west-central part of the country in Trøndelag county, and it stretches from the municipality of Ørland in ...

. It is the church for the Stranda

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

Fosen prosti This list of churches in Nidaros is a list of the Church of Norway churches in the Diocese of Nidaros which covers all of Trøndelag county in Norway. The list is divided into several sections, one for each deanery in the diocese. Administrati ...

(

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 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, 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 ...

style in 1897 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 ...

Knut Guttormsen Knut Guttormsen (1830—1900) was a Norwegian builder and architect. He is most famous for the many churches he built and renovated. Knut Guttormsen was married to Sara Sofie Andersdtter Haugaskjæret and together they had five children: So ...

. The church, which seats about 300 people, was

consecrate 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 ...

d on 4 May 1897.

History

The earliest existing historical records of the church date back to the year 1589, but the old

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 ...

was not new that year. Originally, the church was located at Hindrum, near the present-day village of

Seter Transhumance is a type of pastoralism or nomadism, a seasonal movement of livestock between fixed summer and winter pastures. In montane regions (''vertical transhumance''), it implies movement between higher pastures in summer and lower vall ...

, about northeast of the present site of the church. The church was likely built during the 1200s. The old church at Hindrum was used for centuries. In the mid-1600s, the old church was rebuilt in stages. In 1648, the old

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 ...

was torn down and completely rebuilt with new lumber by the architect

Ole Jonsen Hindrum Ole Jonsen Hindrum was a Norwegian builder and architect. He was a noted church builder in Trøndelag county, particularly specializing in the rare and unique Y-shaped floor plan. Ole Jonsen Hindrum was born around the year 1625 in Hindrem in L ...

. Several years later, the old

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 ...

was torn down and rebuilt with new lumber as well. There is a metal spire on top of the tower on the roof with the date 1653, so that is possibly the year that the rest of the church was rebuilt. After it was rebuilt it was described as a small,

timber-framed Timber framing (german: Holzfachwerk) and "post-and-beam" construction are traditional methods of building with heavy timbers, creating structures using squared-off and carefully fitted and joined timbers with joints secured by large wooden ...

. In 1897, it was decided to move the church from Hindrum to

so it would be closer to where most of the parish's residents lived. A new church was built in Vanvikan and it was re-named ''Stranda Church''. The new church was designed by K. Guttormsen and it was

d on 4 May 1897. The old church was torn down in December 1897. In January 2010, a group of local residents began construction on a new stave church at the old church site of Hindrem. The little new church was designed very similarly to the Haltdalen stave church. The new stave church at Hindrem was consecrated on 9 September 2012. It sits adjacent to the centuries-old church cemetery.

References

{{use dmy dates, date=May 2021 Indre Fosen Churches in Trøndelag Long churches in Norway Wooden churches in Norway 19th-century Church of Norway church buildings Churches completed in 1897 13th-century establishments in Norway

History

See also

References