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72-492: The farm was mentioned in written sources as early as 1270. Eirik Bjørnsson, who gradually purchased the farm in the 1430s, was the ancestor of the Bratt family, who had lived at the farm for many generations. By 1680, it had developed into a scattered farming settlement with more than 26 leased-out properties and 700 buildings. One of its larger properties is the farm named Søre Lykkja ('South Lykkja'), also known as Bjølstadløkken, to

144-409: A ⌗ sign, their ends protruding 1–2 meters from the lap joint where they intersect. The ends of these beams support the sills of the outer walls, forming a separate horizontal frame. The tall internal posts are placed on the internal frame of ground beams, and carry the main roof above the central nave ( skip ). On the outer frame of sills rest the main wall planks ( veggtiler ), carrying the roof over

216-674: A motif depicting a dragon similar to those often seen on Norwegian stave churches and on surviving artifacts from Denmark and Gotland. Whether this decoration can be attributed to cultural similarities or whether it indicates similar construction methods in Germany has sparked controversy. Replica stave churches have been built in several American communities, mostly in the Upper Midwest, with Norwegian or Islandic immigrant populations. Lorentz Dietrichson in his book De norske Stavkirker ("The Norwegian Stave Churches") (1892) claimed that

288-461: A previous stave church. Other notable places are Maria Minor church in Lund, with its traces of a post church with palisades , and some old parts of Hemse stave church on Gotland . In Skåne alone there were around 300 such churches when Adam of Bremen visited Denmark in the first half of the 11th century, but how many of those were stave churches or post churches is unknown. In England , there

360-493: A red cross on a white background, as is customary. This creates the impression that the resurrected Christ is holding a Danish banner. The pulpit is covered with carvings, as are the end pieces on all the pews . The ceiling painting under the church's tower shows the Four Evangelists : Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. The Eye of Providence is painted above the chancel . Two cherubs blowing horns are painted above

432-453: A sturdy double-layered timber-framed wall that is approximately 1 metre (3 ft 3 in) tall. The wall has a slate roof on top. The history of this church is rather complicated with several church sites and various buildings that have served the congregation over the centuries. The first church in Heidal was a wooden stave church that is said to have been built during the first half of

504-601: A time, the chapel was defunct and used as a stable and barn. Nine buildings at the Bjølstad Farm received protected status under the Cultural Heritage Act of 1920. The farm served as the site where the 1959 Austrian film Und ewig singen die Wälder (The Forests Sing Forever) was filmed. It was based on Trygve Gulbranssen 's 1933 book Og bakom synger skogene (Beyond Sing the Woods). In 1970, to mark

576-409: Is believed to be of this type. In later churches the posts were set on a raised sill frame resting on stone foundations. This is the stave church in its most mature form. It is now common to group the churches into two categories: the first, without free-standing posts, often referred to as Type A; and the second, with a raised roof and free-standing internal posts, usually called Type B. Those with

648-691: Is located in the village of Bjølstad , in Heidal , a side valley of the main Gudbrandsdalen valley. It is the church for the Heidal parish which is part of the Nord-Gudbrandsdal prosti ( deanery ) in the Diocese of Hamar . The brown, wooden church was built in a cruciform design in 1941 using plans drawn up by the architect Bredo Berntsen . The church seats about 292 people. The church, cemetery, and Bjølstad Chapel are encircled by

720-646: Is one similar church of Saxon origin, with much debate as to whether it is a stave church or predates them. This is the Greensted Church in Essex . General consensus categorizes it as Saxon Type A. Another church bears similarities to stave churches, the medieval stone church of St. Mary in Kilpeck in Herefordshire . It features a number of dragon heads. In Germany , there is one stone church with

792-584: Is unknown in Old Norse, presumably because there were no other types of wooden churches. When Norway's churches after the Reformation were constructed from logs, there was a need for a separate term for the older churches. In written sources from the Middle Ages, there is a clear distinction between stafr (posts) and þili or vægþili (wall boards). However, in documents from the 1600–1700s, "stave"

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864-501: The Great Northern War . The new church owner paid 20 riksdaler for the church building and 8 0 riksdaler for the land. In 1754, a new church was built about 2.5 kilometres (1.6 mi) to the east of the old church. It was consecrated on 11 March 1754. It was a timber-framed cruciform building. Jakob Klukstad designed the new altarpiece , pulpit , and crucifix , but many other interior furnishings were moved from

936-607: The Karkonosze mountains of Poland. One other church, the Anglo-Saxon Greensted Church in England, exhibits many similarities with a stave church but is generally considered a palisade church. Archaeological excavations have shown that stave churches are descended from palisade constructions and from later churches with earth-bound posts. Similar palisade constructions are known from buildings from

1008-544: The Viking Age . Logs were split in two halves, set or rammed into the earth (generally called post in ground construction) and given a roof. This proved a simple but very strong form of construction. If set in gravel, the wall could last many decades, even centuries. An archaeological excavation in Lund uncovered the postholes of several such churches. In post churches , the walls were supported by sills , leaving only

1080-758: The clerestory , arcades and capitals . The "basilica theory" was introduced by N. Nicolaysen in Mindesmærker af Middelalderens Kunst i Norge (1854). Nicolaysen wrote: "Our stave churches are now the only remaining of its kind, and according to the sparse records and known circumstances, it appears that nothing similar existed except perhaps in Britain and Ireland." (" Vore stavkirker er nu de eneste i sit slags, og saavidt sparsomme beretninger og andre omstændigheder lader formode, synes de heller ikke tidligere at have havt noget sidestykke med undtagelse af maaske i Storbritannien og Irland .") Nicolaysen further claimed that

1152-531: The 11th century. The church was originally located at Nørdre Prestgard in Bjølstad , about 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) to the northwest of the present church site. The oldest sources connect it with the Christianization of Norway . The discovery of gravestones and remains there also indicates that there was a cemetery at the site of the old church. Probably around 1531 (definitely during the 1500s),

1224-467: The 19th century when a substantial number were destroyed. Today, 28 historical stave churches remain standing in Norway. Stave churches were particularly common in less populated areas in high valleys and forest land, and in fishermen's villages on islands and minor villages along fjords. By about 1800, 322 stave churches were still known in Norway, most of them in sparsely populated areas. If the main church

1296-450: The 850th anniversary of the Bratt family, over 2,000 members of the Bratt family met at a reunion at the farm and set up a memorial stone there. A separate illustrated chapter is dedicated to Bjølstad in the 1882 travelogue Three in Norway (by Two of Them) : Sunday, September 19.— Bjölstad is an ancient Norwegian homestead, and consists of several separate buildings surrounding a central rectangular court. The house that we slept in bears

1368-565: The Mør type are the largest. He calculated the ground plan and area for 79 churches, and the nine largest were all in Sunnmøre with Hjørundfjord, Volda and Norddal of over 280 m . This is three times larger than, for example, Urnes and Hopperstad. According to Dietrichson, the large size of the stave churches in Sunnmøre were partly a result of later expansions. He estimated the cross arms of Volda Stave Church at 7.3 × 6 meters. Hjørundfjord Stave Church

1440-547: The Urnes stave church in Luster, where many building parts with wooden sheds in the urn style must have belonged to an older church. It has now been proven that the reused building parts originally belonged to the current church's forerunner, dendrochronologically dated to the period 1070–1080. However, this was not a post church, but a real stave church where corner poles and wall planks stood on sleepers. Håkon Christie assumed that

1512-482: The cross arms were later added to the lumber. According to Håkon Christie, these churches of the Mør type had a simpler construction and were both larger and longer than the other types. Roar Hauglid estimated that most (80–90%) of the medieval Norwegian stave churches were simple single-nave buildings (Type A) and most were relatively small. Hauglid called these "the ordinary Norwegian stave church". Stave churches were once common in northern Europe. In Norway alone, it

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1584-436: The current church, adjacent to the graveyard that encircled the church. In addition to the doorposts from the 1000s, it preserves other old elements: the pulpit, a crucifix, the tower, and the bell. Its altar, which was painted by Borgar Hauglid at the time that the church was reassembled in 1962, depicts the resurrected Christ with the banner of victory. The decoration of the church's interior is otherwise modest. The new building

1656-471: The date of 1818, and is the most modern as well as the largest of the group; it is really a suite of state apartments for the use of the king on the rare occasions when he visits this part of his dominions. On the left-hand side of the courtyard as we stand at the door of our state apartments, is a very quaint and picturesque old house with a handsome porch, built in the Byzantine style, date 1743, and in this

1728-400: The earliest churches in Norway were built using this technique, but no such buildings have survived. It is an open question whether limited life was the reason why they were replaced by real stave churches with sleepers, or whether there were other reasons. Some of the older materials found in several of the stave churches are thought to originate from such early pillar churches, in particular at

1800-403: The entire structure up on stone foundations and placing the poles on sleepers, the life of the structure was significantly extended. The technique was developed as early as the 11th century, but it has only been proven in the forerunner of the current stave church. This was also a real stave church, since both the corner stakes and the tiles have stood on sleepers that were reused as foundations for

1872-400: The existing church. Stone as a base for poles was used as early as Roman times and additional walls in sleepers may have been used from the 400s and 600s. Lorentz Dietrichson believed that the stave churches were originally small and only later built with larger dimensions. He believed that the background for this was the construction technique. He points out that the youngest churches in

1944-549: The facade, the ground floor and the floor plan – the first known architectural drawing of a stave church. Between 1950 and 1970, postholes from older buildings were discovered under Lom stave church as well as under masonry churches such as Kinsarvik Church , and this discovery was an important contribution to understanding the origin of stave churches. Postholes were first identified during excavations in Urnes stave church. The number of stave churches constructed in Iceland and

2016-636: The fittings and even the weathercock of an ancient church which used to stand close to the farm, but which is now demolished and partly reduced to firewood. 61°45′39″N 9°17′13″E  /  61.76083°N 9.28694°E  / 61.76083; 9.28694 Heidal Church#Bjølstad Chapel Heidal Church ( Norwegian : Heidal kyrkje ) is a parish church of the Church of Norway in Sel Municipality in Innlandet county, Norway . It

2088-438: The four wall frames made up of sills, corner posts and wall plate. The wall plates support the roof trusses, consisting of a pair of principal rafters and an additional pair of intersecting "scissor rafters". For lateral bracing, additional wooden brackets ( bueknær ) are inserted between the rafters. Every piece is locked into position by other pieces, making for a very rigid construction; yet all points otherwise susceptible to

2160-588: The harsh weather are covered. Single-nave churches in Norway: Grip , Haltdalen , Undredal , Hedal , Reinli , Eidsborg , Rollag , Uvdal , Nore , Høyjord , Røldal , and Garmo . The only remaining church of this type outside Norway is the Hedared church in Sweden, which shows similarities with the church at Haltdalen . On the stone foundation, four huge ground beams ( grunnstokker ) are placed like

2232-572: The layout and design may have been inspired by Byzantine architecture. Nicolaysen wrote: "All facts suggest that the stave churches like the masonry churches and all medieval architecture in Western Europe originated from the Roman basilica." (" Alt synes at henpege paa, at forbilledet til vore stavkirker ligesom til stenkirkerne og overhovedet til hele den vesteuropæiske arkitektur i middelalderen er udgaaet fra den romerske basilika. ") This theory

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2304-591: The load-bearing ore-pine posts are called stafr in Old Norse ( stav in modern Norwegian ). Two related church building types also named for their structural elements, the post church and palisade church , are often called 'stave churches'. Originally much more widespread, most of the surviving stave churches are in Norway. The only remaining medieval stave churches outside Norway are those of circa 1500 Hedared stave church in Sweden and one Norwegian stave church relocated in 1842 to contemporary Karpacz in

2376-428: The lower end to avoid premature decay. Postholes, often with remnants of the former pillars, have been found under or near several stave churches and in places where legends say that there must have been churches. Remains of approximately 25 pillar buildings have been identified in Norway, and indirect traces of 7–8 more. Remains of pillar churches are also found under stone churches such as Mære and Kinsarvik. Many of

2448-658: The next hundred years 136 of these disappeared. There were still 95 stave churches in 1800, while over 200 former stave churches were still known by name or in written sources. From 1850 to 1885, 32 stave churches disappeared; since then only the Fantoft Stave Church has been lost. Heddal stave church was the first stave church described in a scholarly publication, when Johannes Flintoe wrote an essay in Samlinger til det Norske Folks Sprog og Historie (Christiania, 1834). The book also printed Flintoe's drawings of

2520-456: The northwest. The Veslesetra property also belongs to the farm. In 1904 the farm had 100 hectares (250 acres) of cultivated land and 3,000 hectares (7,400 acres) of forest. The farm is privately owned. The Bjølstad Chapel , now relocated at Heidal Church , is a timber-framed structure dating from 1531 that can accommodate 75 people. Its doorposts are believed to date from an earlier stave church and are decorated with Urnes Style carvings. For

2592-588: The old church to the new church. The new church was known as the Tabor Church or Heidal Church (the name Tabor refers to Mount Tabor from the Bible ). After the new church was taken into use, the old church at Bjølstad became redundant and was no longer used. On 26 July 1933, the old church burned down due to a lightning strike. Most of the interior art and furnishings were lost in the fire, except for some silver candlesticks and metal crucifixes. A new church

2664-463: The old stave church was moved to the Bjølstad Farm , about 0.5 kilometres (0.31 mi) to the west of the old church site. Tradition says that the old church was moved because of gross desecration of the churchyard. There is no evidence as to what this was, but it caused the parish to move the church to a neighboring farm. Eventually the church became too small, and a new timber-framed nave

2736-501: The oldest church structure. A single church of palisade construction has been discovered under the Hemse stave church . The next design phase resulted from the observation that earthbound posts were susceptible to humidity, causing them to rot away over time. To prevent this, the posts were placed on top of large stones, significantly increasing their lifespans. The stave church in Røldal

2808-487: The organ is located in the gallery over the entrance. The other two galleries are outfitted with benches. The new church was consecrated on 8 June 1941 (one of very few churches in Norway that was consecrated during World War II ). The church is richly decorated, largely consisting of carved acanthus elements. The woodcarvings in the church were created by three local woodcarvers: Mattias Fjerdingren, Anders Johnsgard, and Paul Sørhaugen. Edvard Bakkom from Vågå created

2880-399: The organ. The church was located at Bjølstad from the 1500s until it was closed in 1754 after the new Heidal Church was completed. After its closure, it was used as a barn for quite some time. In 1786, records show that it was still located on the farm, but that it had been moved and that it was decaying. The tower and sacristy were removed at some point as well. In 1820, the farm owner moved

2952-457: The owner lives whenever he comes to this farm. Opposite to us is another building even more curious in its architecture, and considerably older than the other; and the remaining side of the yard is occupied by another more modern edifice, used chiefly as a storehouse. Besides these there are several other detached outbuildings, in which sleighs, ploughs, spare cooking utensils, rugs, and various other useful and useless articles are kept, including all

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3024-431: The pentice or aisles ( omgang ) surrounding the central space. The roof thus slopes down in two steps, as in a basilica . The tall internal posts ( staver ) are interconnected with brackets ( bueknær ), and also connected to the outer walls with aisle rafters, creating a laterally rigid construction. Closer to the top of the posts ( staver ), shorter sills inserted between them support the upper wall ( tilevegg ). On top of

3096-436: The period just after the year 1053 (+10 / −55 years). By lifting the pole planks up from the ground and placing them on sleepers clamped between more powerful corner or intermediate posts, the risk of rot damage was reduced. Thinner materials could then be used in the complementary parts of the construction. Earthen piles of coarse round timber could stand for a relatively long time before rotting. They may have been scorched at

3168-505: The plank walls. These probably served to protect the church from a harsh climate, and for processions. At the base of Type A churches, there are four heavy sill beams on a low foundation of stones. These are interconnected in the corner notch, forming a rigid sill frame. The corner posts or staves ( stavene in Norwegian) are cross-cut at the lower end and fit over the corner notches and cover them, protecting them from moisture. On top of

3240-584: The plot before twelve months; if not, he will pay three marks in punishment to the bishop and bring timber and rebuild the church anyway. ( Um einskildmenn byggjer kyrkje, anten lendmann gjer det eller bonde, eller kven det er som byggjer kyrkje, skal han halda henne i stand og inkje øyda tufti. Men um kyrkja brotnar og hyrnestavane fell, då skal han føra timber på tufti innan tolv månadar; um det ikkje kjem, skal han bøta tre merker for det til biskopen og koma med timber og byggja opp kyrkja likevel. ) In Norway, stave churches were gradually replaced; many survived until

3312-399: The post construction fell out of use because the posts rotted from below. Jørgen H. Jensenius believes that archaeological material does not provide unequivocal support for Christie's hypothesis; a change in size or transition to a stone church may also explain why excavated pillars fell out of use. Røldal Stave Church may have had some pillars set in the ground until 1913. In Lom Stave Church,

3384-475: The posts earth-bound. Such churches are easy to spot at archaeological sites as they leave very distinct holes where the posts were once placed. Occasionally some of the wood remains, making it possible to date the church more accurately using radiocarbon dating or dendrochronology . Under the Urnes Stave Church , remains of two such churches have been found, with Christian graves discovered beneath

3456-416: The posts wall plates ( stavlægjer ) support the roof trusses, similar to those of the single-nave churches. The Kaupanger group consists of: Kaupanger , Urnes , Hopperstad , and Lom . The Borgund group consists of: Borgund , Gol , Hegge , Høre , Lomen , Ringebu , and Øye . This form of a church can also be recognized from the holes which remain from earlier earth-bound post churches built on

3528-577: The raised roof, Type B, are often further divided into two subgroups. The first of these, the Kaupanger group , have a whole arcade row of posts and intermediate posts along the sides and details that mimic stone capitals . These churches give an impression of a basilica . The other subgroup is the Borgund group . In these churches the posts are connected halfway up with one or two horizontal double ″ pincer beams ″ with semicircular indentations, clasping

3600-699: The rest of Europe is unknown. Some believe they were the first type of church to be constructed in Scandinavia ; however, the post churches are an older type, although the difference between the two is slight. A stave church has a lower construction set on a frame, whereas a post church has earth-bound posts. In Sweden , the stave churches were considered obsolete in the Middle Ages and were replaced. In Denmark , traces of post churches have been found at several locations, and there are also parts still in existence from some of them. A plank of one such church

3672-527: The reused beams and doorposts in the church were the most visible remnants from the earliest church, which date back to the 1000s. The doorposts are decorated with some of Norway's oldest carvings. By the 1700s, the church had started to fall into disrepair and was not in great condition. In 1723, the church was sold at the Norwegian church auction when the King sold off all the churches to help pay debts from

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3744-610: The row of posts from both sides. Cross-braces are inserted between the posts and the upper and lower pincer beams (or above the single pincer beam), forming a very rigid interconnection, and resembling the triforium of stone basilicas . This design made it possible to omit the freestanding lower part of intermediate posts. In some churches only the four corner posts remain (for example in Lomen Stave Church ). Many stave churches had or still have outer galleries or ambulatories around their whole perimeters, loosely connected to

3816-418: The same sites. Little is known about what these older churches actually looked like or how they were constructed, as they were all destroyed or replaced many centuries ago. The oldest technique is often called palisade work and was a self-supporting wall construction with densely placed earthen pillars or planks, which enclosed a room and at the same time carried the roof. Later, split logs were used, which gave

3888-586: The sculptures. The main image on the altarpiece shows Christ crucified . To the side of the cross stand Jesus's mother Mary and the disciple John. This central image is flanked by Moses holding the Tables of the Law and Aaron clothed as a high priest. At the top of the altarpiece , Christ is depicted holding a victory banner. This banner in Heidal Church is painted with a white cross on a red background instead of

3960-418: The sill beam is a groove into which the lower ends of the wall planks ( veggtilene ) fit. The last wall plank is wedge-shaped and rammed into place. When the wall is filled in with planks, the frame is completed by a wall plate ( stavlægje ) with a groove on the bottom, holding the top ends of the wall planks. The whole structure consists of frames – a sill frame resting on the stone foundation, and

4032-429: The somewhat dilapidated building to the embankment below the farm. In 1933, the building was completely dismantled and put into storage. The materials were gifted to the community with the plan that they could be used to reconstruct the old church as a museum. From 1956 to 1965, the materials from the old Bjølstad Church ( Bjølstad kirke ) were used to rebuild the old church about 40 metres (130 ft) southeast of

4104-478: The stave church is "a brilliant translation of the Romanesque basilica from stone to wood" (" En genial oversettelse fra sten til tre av den romanske basilika "). Dietrichson claimed that Type B displays an influence from early Christian and Roman basilicas. The style was assumed to be transferred via Anglo-Saxon and Irish architecture, where only the particular roof construction was local. Dietrichson emphasized

4176-548: The stave church was the standard church building in Norway, even though the Catholic church preferred stone. All wooden churches in Norway before the reformation were constructed with staves. Log building is younger than stave building in Norway, and was introduced in residential buildings around year 1000. Stave building is not influenced by the log technique. Only 29 stave churches have survived in Norway. Most of these were built between 1150 and 1350. The word "stave church"

4248-429: The stone foundations have been laid approximately directly over the refilled postholes. Apart from different foundation methods, Jensenius believes that the pillar churches were essentially similar to stave churches. Of buildings from the Middle Ages with standing timber in load-bearing structures, only the churches in the last developed method of construction, the stave, have been left standing in our time. By lifting

4320-522: The strongest supports within the whole of Christianity." Church building was mentioned in the Gulatingsloven (Gulating Law), which was written down in the 1000s. In the chapter on Christianity, the 12th article states: If one man builds a church, either lendmann does it or a farmer, or whoever builds a church, shall keep the church and the plot in good condition. But if the church breaks down and corner posts fall, then he shall bring timber to

4392-430: The walls a flat inside, and the edges could be leveled or fitted with tongue and groove. Palisade churches have not been found in Norway. To prevent early decay, the posts or planks were tarred, and the lower ends were charred by burning. The palisade rows were often placed in ditches filled with stone. It was long thought that this technique disappeared before the turn of the last millennium, but new research shows that it

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4464-580: Was a "half-cross church" with only one cross arm measuring 7.9 × 9.1 meters. The first stave church had cross arms of 7.9 × 6.7 meters after expansion. Dietrichson was unsure whether the cross arms in the Møre churches were generally added in the lath construction or whether it was a medieval stave construction. He concluded that several were originally listed as cruciform churches in stakes, including Hareid, Volda, Vatne and Ørsta. For some other churches (Bremsnes and Kornstad on Nordmøre), contemporary sources say that

4536-437: Was also used for wall boards or panels. Emil Eckhoff in his Svenska stavkyrkor (1914–1916) also included wood-frame church buildings without posts. According to Norway's oldest written laws and Old Norwegian Homily Book , the consecration of the church was valid as long as the four corner posts were standing. One of the sermons in the old homily book is known as the "stave church sermon". The sermon dates from around 1100 and

4608-490: Was built on the same site from 1937 to 1941. The new church was designed to be as close a copy to the original as possible, except that it would be a little larger. Bredo Berntsen was hired to design the building and Knut Villa was hired as the lead builder. The new building is a timbered wooden cruciform church (like most of the churches in the Gudbrandsdalen valley. The church has three second floor seating galleries:

4680-439: Was built to replace the old stave church nave. The new nave measured approximately 6.95 by 6.65 metres (22.8 ft × 21.8 ft). Apparently the choir from the stave church was retained. By 1675, the old choir was rotting and in need of replacement, so the choir was replaced with a new timber-framed choir and sacristy on the same site. Some of the materials from the old church were reused in this remodeling project. Some of

4752-412: Was converted into a cruciform church partly in log construction. According to Dietrichson, most stave churches were dismantled to make room for a new church, partly because the old church had become too small for the congregation, and partly because the stave church was in poor condition. Fire, storm, avalanche and decay were other reasons. In 1650 there were about 270 stave churches left in Norway, and in

4824-703: Was found in Jutland . The plank is now on display at the National Museum of Denmark in Copenhagen and an attempt at reconstructing the church is a featured display at the Moesgård Museum near Aarhus . Marks created by several old post churches have also been found at the old stone church in Jelling . In Sweden, the medieval Hedared stave church was constructed c. 1500 at the same location as

4896-484: Was in use right up to the beginning of the 12th century. The only structure in this technique that has survived into our time is a wall in the middle section of Greensted Church in England. This led to this church being for a long time considered the oldest wooden structure in Europe. A common dating of the church was about the year 845, but modern dendrochronological dating estimates the church's year of construction to

4968-602: Was masonry, the annex church could be a stave church. Masonry churches were mostly built in towns, along the coast, and in rich agricultural areas in Trøndelag and eastern Norway, as well as in the larger parishes in fjord districts in western Norway. No new churches were built in Norway during the 1400s and 1500s. Norway's stave churches largely disappeared until 1700 and were replaced by log buildings. Several stave churches were redesigned or enlarged using different techniques during 1600–1700; for instance, Flesberg Stave Church

5040-413: Was named Bjølstad Chapel ( Bjølstad kapell ) and it is able to accommodate 120 people. It is used for scheduled worship services only a few times a year. 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

5112-400: Was presumably performed at consecrations, or on their anniversaries. The sermon text is a theological interpretation of the building elements in the church. It names most of the building elements in the stave church, and can be a source of terminology and technique. For instance, the sermon says: "The four corner posts of the church are a symbol for the four gospels, because their teachings are

5184-579: Was thought about 1000 were built; recent research has increased this estimate and it is now believed there may have been closer to 2000. Norwegian stave churches older than the 1100s are known only from written sources or from archaeological excavations, but written sources are sparse and difficult to interpret. Only 271 masonry churches were constructed in Norway during the same period, of which 160 still exist, while in Sweden and Denmark there were 900 and 1800 masonry churches respectively. Frostathing Law and Gulating law rules about "corner posts" show that

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