| Grytten Church | |
|---|---|
| Grytten kyrkje | |
 View of the church | |
 Grytten Church | |
| 62°33′10″N7°40′23″E / 62.552738272°N 7.6729229092°E /62.552738272; 7.6729229092 | |
| Location | Rauma Municipality, Møre og Romsdal |
| Country | Norway |
| Denomination | Church of Norway |
| Churchmanship | Evangelical Lutheran |
| History | |
| Status | Parish church |
| Founded | 13th century |
| Consecrated | 27 September 1829 |
| Architecture | |
| Functional status | Active |
| Architect | S.H. Aspaas |
| Architectural type | Octagonal |
| Completed | 1829 (197 years ago) (1829) |
| Specifications | |
| Capacity | 250 |
| Materials | Wood |
| Administration | |
| Diocese | Møre bispedømme |
| Deanery | Indre Romsdal prosti |
| Parish | Grytten |
| Type | Church |
| Status | Automatically protected |
| ID | 84440 |
Grytten Church (Norwegian:Grytten kyrkje) is aparish church of theChurch of Norway inRauma Municipality inMøre og Romsdal county,Norway. It is located near the mouth of theRauma River in the village ofVeblungsnes. It is the church for the Gryttenparish which is part of theIndre Romsdal prosti (deanery) in theDiocese of Møre. The red, wooden church was built in anoctagonal design in 1829 using plans drawn up by thearchitectS.H. Aspaas, possibly using theSør-Fron Church as a model. The church seats about 250 people.[1][2]
There are four large columns which support the tower. Inside the church, there is a tall, 2-metre (6 ft 7 in) wide wooden crucifix, possibly from the 13th century. The church has a so-calledpulpit altar (Norwegian:Prekestolalter), which is apulpit centrally located directly above the altar (according to the style ofSør-Fron Church). The two church bells are from the previous churches.[3][4]
The earliest existing historical records of Grytten Church date back to 1364, but it was not new that year. The first church in Grytten was located on the Grytten (or "Grytina") farm (which is why the church, parish, and municipality have had the name Grytten). This farm is located between the riversIstra andRauma, about 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) southeast of the present church location. The historic name wasGryttinar kirkja which is mentioned inAslak Bolt's cadastre. That first building was a woodenstave church that was probably built in the 13th century. Not much is known about this medieval building.[5][3][4][6]
In 1642, the church is reported to have been in dire need of repairs. The medieval stave church was significantly repaired or rebuilt in 1651. In 1663, a newchurch porch was built on the west end of thenave. In 1670, the interior was renovated and a newaltarpiece was installed. In 1691, the old tower was torn down. In 1728, the church had some significant structural failures. Several of the roof beams in the church began to fail as well as parts of the porch,sacristy, andchoir. On 29 November 1728, the church roof and walls failed and the entire church crumbled in on itself. Most of the interior furniture was salvaged and stored in therectory until a new church could be built. In 1732, a newtimber-framedcruciform church was completed on the same site. The new church wasconsecrated in the autumn of 1732.[5][3][4][6]
J.F.L. Dreier's 1826lithography«Udsigten ved Grytten i Romsdalen» (View of Grytten in Romsdal) shows the old cruciform church with the peculiar summits of the mountains Bispen, Kongen, and Dronninga behind.[7] (See media gallery below.)
In 1814, this church served as anelection church (Norwegian:valgkirke).[8][9] 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 atEidsvoll Manor later that year.[8][10]
The church that was built in 1732 stood at Grytten for about 100 years. During this time, most of the forested areas around the church and the local rivers was cut down which caused some of the river banks to shift and the erosion of the areas along the river. Over time, the church began to be threatened by shifting sands along the river banks. Shifting sand was a major problem in the area and large parts of thevicarage (which according to tradition included substantial farmland) was turned into a sand desert. In 1824, a sand dune "9 cubits tall" (about 3 metres or 9.8 feet) was located just east of the church and the church yard was largely covered in sand. The building itself suffered damages from sand penetrating cracks in the walls. So, in 1828, the church building was dismantled and the church site was moved toVeblungsnes, about 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) to the northwest, along the fjord. The church was rebuilt at the new site using some building materials from the old church as well as some new materials. The new church was not based on the old church, but rather it had a newoctagonal design with anonion dome, looking nothing like the old church. The building has analtarpiece from the previous church building which dates back to the 13th century. The new church wasconsecrated on 27 September 1829. In 1868, thechurch porch was repaired and enlarged. In 1965–1967, the church was enlarged using plans by Torgeir Suul.[11][12][3][4][6]
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