Country Norway Churchmanship Evangelical Lutheran Consecrated 8 July 1885 Capacity 120 Architect Hartvig Sverdrup Eckhoff | Denomination Church of Norway Former name(s) Haukedal Chapel Opened 1885 Status Parish church | |
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Location Førde Municipality,
Sogn og Fjordane Diocese Lutheran Diocese of Bjørgvin Similar Holsen Church, Stavang Church, Ortnevik Church, Bø Church, Holmedal Church | ||
Haukedalen Church (Norwegian: Haukedalen kyrkje) is a parish church in Førde Municipality in Sogn og Fjordane county, Norway. It is located in the village of Haukedalen. The church is part of the Holsen og Haukedalen parish in the Sunnfjord deanery in the Diocese of Bjørgvin. The white, wooden church was built in 1885 by the architect Hartvig Sverdrup Eckhoff. The church, which seats about 120 people, was consecrated on 8 July 1885.
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Haukedalen church is located at an elevation of 300 metres (980 ft) above sea level, only Borgund Stave Church and Borgund Church in the municipality of Lærdal are higher in elevation. Haukedalen is also the church located farthest from the sea in all of Sogn og Fjordane county, 42 kilometres (26 mi) from the head of the Førdefjorden. But the community of Haukedalen is on the high ground of the Gaula river watershed, and it is geographically more closely connected to the municipality of Gaular. The Haukedalen people have always belonged to the parish of Førde, even though they had to cross the 543-metre (1,781 ft) high Rørvikfjellet pass in the Gaularfjellet mountains. Haukedalen is in the geographical centre of the county of Sogn og Fjordane and is thus both distant and central in location.
History
Historically, the residents of the Haukedalen valley were part of the parish of Holsen Church in the next valley over. However, large quantities of snow have stopped a good many church travelers across the mountain pass between Holsen and Haukedalen. There is a place called Likhillaren where people used to leave coffins if darkness or bad weather set in, while they were on their way to Holsen Church. Towards the end of the 17th century, they at long last got their own church at Haukedalen. It was built close to the lake Haukedalsvatnet. Before 1859, the vicar for the Førde parish came to Haukedalen only twice a year, around midsummer and on Michaelmas (29 September). Funerals were taken care of by the people in the village. It was practice to "sing out" the dead body at the home, then the coffin was buried at the churchyard. The church rituals had to wait until the next church service. The midsummer mass tradition is special, and it is something Haukedalen shares with other hill valleys, such as at Guddal. The midsummer mass is even today a day of celebration for people in the community. Since 1886, Haukedalen has had a church service about once a month.
Building
The Haukedalen church of today was built in 1884 and consecrated the year after, the same year in which the Førde Church was finished. As was the case with the old church, the people in the valley covered all the expenses, which amounted to 5765.06 kr. It is a basilica church in timber framework, painted white, with the steeple above the porch to the west. The nave is 9.5 by 7 metres (31 by 23 ft), the chancel is 5.5 by 4.5 metres (18 by 15 ft). A vestry was built to the east in the 1950s. Also at that time, the church was also insulated, electric lighting and heating were installed, and the interior was renovated with new paneling and new seats. Historically, people sat in the church according to their rank, with the people from the largest farms on the front benches and the smaller farms in the back, but this was changed for the 75-year anniversary in 1960.