| Askvoll Church | |
|---|---|
| Askvoll kyrkje | |
 View of the church | |
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| 61°20′53″N5°04′12″E / 61.3481066761°N 5.0700429082°E /61.3481066761; 5.0700429082 | |
| Location | Askvoll Municipality, Vestland |
| Country | Norway |
| Denomination | Church of Norway |
| Churchmanship | Evangelical Lutheran |
| History | |
| Status | Parish church |
| Founded | 13th century |
| Consecrated | 13 December 1863 |
| Architecture | |
| Functional status | Active |
| Architect(s) | Anders Askevold |
| Architectural type | Long church |
| Completed | 1863 (162 years ago) (1863) |
| Specifications | |
| Capacity | 425 |
| Materials | Wood |
| Administration | |
| Diocese | Bjørgvin bispedømme |
| Deanery | Sunnfjord prosti |
| Parish | Askvoll |
| Type | Church |
| Status | Not protected |
| ID | 83802 |
Askvoll Church (Norwegian:Askvoll kyrkje) is aparish church of theChurch of Norway inAskvoll Municipality inVestland county,Norway. It is located in thevillage of Askvoll. It is one of several churches for the Askvollparish which is part of theSunnfjord prosti (deanery) in theDiocese of Bjørgvin. The white, wooden church was built in along church style in 1863 using plans drawn up byAnders Askevold. The church seats about 425 people.[1][2]
The earliest existing historical records of the church date back to the year 1306, but the church was not new at that time. The first church was a woodenstave church that was locate on the same site as the present church. In 1604, the old medieval church was torn down and replaced with a newtimber-framedlong church on the same site. The new building had anave that measured about 17 by 9 metres (56 ft × 30 ft) and achoir that measured about 5 by 6 metres (16 ft × 20 ft). The oldchurch porch and tower above it from the medieval stave church were saved and reused in the new building. In 1709, thenave was enlarged by adding atransept to the north, creating a half-cruciform design for the church.[3][4][5]
In 1814, this church served as anelection church (Norwegian:valgkirke).[6][7] Together with more than 300 other parish churches across Norway, it was a polling station for elections to the 1814Norwegian Constituent Assembly which wrote theConstitution of Norway. This was Norway's first national elections. Eachchurch parish was a constituency that elected people called "electors" who later met together in each county to elect the representatives for the assembly that was to meet inEidsvoll later that year.[6][8]
In 1859, the church was torn down and a new church was completed on the same site in 1860. The new building was a woodencruciform church that was designed by thearchitectJacob Wilhelm Nordan. This new church was struck by lightning and burned down in 1862, less than three years after it was built. After the fire, a new church was built in 1863 on the same site. This new church was designed byAnders Askevold and the lead builder was Ole Syslak. The new building wasconsecrated on 13 December 1863 by the localProvost Johan Carl Christie.[3][4][5]
The present church was built in 1863 and public opinion about its look was not particularly positive. In his "Remembrance protocol" the pastor, Bernt Askevold, put it like this: "The new church was built with a simplesteeple which rose only a few feet above the roof ridge and with a big wooden cross at the other end of the ridge. But people have never liked the simple shape of the church steeple."[5]
The main objection of the critics, then, was that the wooden cross was meant to serve as a steeple on the church, and, after some 30 years, in 1896, it was replaced by a "proper" steeple. This new steeple was much higher and pointed, and people thought this gave the whole building a somewhat prouder character. The artistAnders Askevold from Askvoll had designed the church with the steeple that people objected so much to. The new steeple was erected based on the design by the master builder P. Gabrielsen, but Askevold was asked for advice beforehand. The latter then made some suggestions what should be done. They usedDale Church in neighboringFjaler municipality as a model for the new steeple. This new steeple eventually put an end to the complaints concerning the look of the church building.[5]
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