Ålfoten Church

Church in Vestland, Norway

61°50′23″N 5°40′41″E / 61.839632707°N 5.67804202437°E / 61.839632707; 5.67804202437LocationBremanger Municipality,
VestlandCountryNorwayDenominationChurch of NorwayChurchmanshipEvangelical LutheranWebsitekyrkja.no/bremangerHistoryStatusParish churchFounded13th centuryConsecratedc. 1620ArchitectureFunctional statusActiveArchitectural typeLong churchCompletedc. 1620
(404 years ago) (1620)SpecificationsCapacity100MaterialsWoodAdministrationDioceseBjørgvin bispedømmeDeaneryNordfjord prostiParishÅlfoten

Norwegian Cultural Heritage Site

TypeChurchStatusAutomatically protectedID85959

Ålfoten Church (Norwegian: Ålfoten kyrkje) is a parish church of the Church of Norway in Bremanger Municipality in Vestland county, Norway. It is located in the village of Ålfoten, very close to the shore of the Ålfotfjorden. It is the church for the Ålfoten parish which is part of the Nordfjord prosti (deanery) in the Diocese of Bjørgvin. The white, cog-joint, wooden church was built in a long church style during the 17th century by an unknown architect. The church seats about 100 people.^[1]^[2]

History

The earliest existing historical records of the church date back to 1330, but it was not new that year. The first church in Ålfoten was a wooden stave church that was likely built during the 13th century. The old church was torn down during the 17th century and replaced with the present church which was built on the same site (or very near the same site) of the old church. For a long time, the year 1678 was believed to be the year of the construction since that is the date on the weather vane on the roof. However, after recent archaeological research at the site that was carried out during some repairs, it more likely dates from about 1610-1620. The most likely explanation is that the church was built around 1610-1620 and by 1678, the front door and church porch was in poor condition so that part was torn down and rebuilt. The weather vane must have been installed at that time. This church is the oldest wooden church still standing in the Nordfjord region of Norway. It is a small, modest church with no tower and a small stone wall around the churchyard. The interior is almost all unpainted. During the late 1970s, the church was renovated. There was some structural work done, the walls were insulated, electrical work was carried out, and electric heating was installed.^[3]^[4]^[5]

References

^ "Ålfoten kyrkje". Kirkesøk: Kirkebyggdatabasen. Retrieved 17 October 2019.
^ "Oversikt over Nåværende Kirker" (in Norwegian). KirkeKonsulenten.no. Retrieved 17 October 2019.
^ "Ålfoten kyrkjestad" (in Norwegian). Norwegian Directorate for Cultural Heritage. Retrieved 17 October 2019.
^ Henden Aaraas, Margrethe; Vengen, Sigurd; Gjerde, Anders. "Ålfoten kyrkje" (in Norwegian). Fylkesarkivet. Retrieved 5 September 2021.
^ "Ålfoten kirke". Norges-Kirker.no (in Norwegian). Retrieved 5 September 2021.