Gjerde Church

Gjerde Church (Norwegian: Gjerde kyrkje) is a parish church of the Church of Norway in Etne Municipality in Vestland county, Norway. It is located in the Etnesjøen, just south of the village centre. It is one of the churches for the Etne parish which is part of the Sunnhordland prosti (deanery) in the Diocese of Bjørgvin. The white, wooden church was built in a long church style in 1676 using designs by an unknown architect. The church seats about 250 people.[1][2]

Gjerde Church
Gjerde kyrkje
View of the church
Gjerde Church Location of the church Show map of Vestland Gjerde Church Gjerde Church (Norway) Show map of Norway
59.6641°N 5.9348°E / 59.6641; 5.9348
Location	Etne, Vestland
Country	Norway
Denomination	Church of Norway
Churchmanship	Evangelical Lutheran
History
Status	Parish church
Founded	13th century
Architecture
Functional status	Active
Architect(s)	Unknown
Architectural type	Long church
Completed	1676
Specifications
Capacity	250
Materials	Wood
Administration
Parish	Etne
Deanery	Sunnhordland prosti
Diocese	Bjørgvin bispedømme
Norwegian Cultural Heritage Site
Type	Church
Status	Automatically protected
ID	84250

History

View of the church

The earliest existing historical records of the church date back to the year 1288, but it was built some time before that. That church was most likely a stave church that was in use until 1673 when it was badly damaged in a storm and it was torn down. Instead of rebuilding, the parish purchased another church that was moved here from Sandviken in Bergen. The church from Bergen was built in the 1500s. The new church was moved here and completed in 1676 and has been in use since that time. This white, wooden church seats about 250 people. The church bell dates back to 1315. The bell is inscribed (in Norwegian): "Jakob made me 1315. Pastor Erling had me made."[3][4][5]

See also

• List of churches in Bjørgvin

References

1. "Gjerde kyrkje, Etne". Kirkesøk: Kirkebyggdatabasen. Retrieved 31 May 2020.
2. "Oversikt over Nåværende Kirker" (in Norwegian). KirkeKonsulenten.no. Retrieved 31 May 2020.
3. "Kyrkjer og kapell i Etne" (PDF). Etne kyrkjelege fellesråd. Archived from the original (PDF) on 17 April 2015. Retrieved 9 April 2015. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
4. "Kirker i Hordaland fylke" (in Norwegian). DIS-Hordaland. Retrieved 9 April 2015.
5. "Gjerde kyrkjestad" (in Norwegian). Norwegian Directorate for Cultural Heritage. Retrieved 31 May 2020.