Uvdal Stave Church

Uvdal Stave Church is situated at Uvdal in Nore and Uvdal municipality, which is in the valley Numedal in Norway. The stave church was originally constructed just after the year 1168 [ [http://www.riksantikvaren.no/Norsk/Fagemner/Bygninger/Kirker/Stavkirker/?module=Files;action=File.getFile;ID=4036 Official dating by Riksantikvaren (Directorate of Cultural Heritage in Norway)] ] , which we know through dendrochronological dating of the pine tree used during the construction. The logs were not completely dry when the construction took place.

Construction history

The church was made on top of the remains of previous church on the site, thought to have been made with the use of imbedded corner column technology during the turn of the 11th century. This we know from an archeologial excavation that took place during 1978 [ [http://www.riksantikvaren.no/English/ Riksantikvaren, under guidance by PhD. "H. Christie" og PhD. "J. H. Jensenius"] ] . Churches made during the 12th century were usually very small, perhaps no more than 40 square meters in its footprint. They were therefore often expanded, even during the Middle Ages and certainly just before and after the Reformation, which took place during 1537 in Norway.

The nave of the church was first expanded to the west during the Middle Ages, when the original apse of chancel was also removed and the chancel itself elongated. Again, during that period, an extra center column was added to construction. The chancel was torn down again in 1684, when a new and wider chancel was made. This had the same width as the nave. Then, during the period 1721–1723, the church was made into cruciform. A new ridge turret had to be made, to fit the new cruciform. Later, in 1819, a new vestry was added to the north wall of the chancel.

The exterior

The exteriorial walls were panelled during 1760.

The interior

Benches with ornately decorated sidewalls were added to the nave in 1624. The oldest part of the interior was probably richly ornately decorated by painting during 1656, the expansions during 1684 and 1723. Two scary halfmasks are quite visible on the poles of the chancel, and according to myth they were able to capture demons.

Miscellaneous

The church survives today as museum piece, owned by Fortidsminneforeningen, which also happens to own several other stave churches that survive. The church was taken out of use during 1893, but services still take place during the summer season. It is forbidden to take pictures or shoot video of the interior, but in the late nineties the local internet site Numedalsnett was allowed to shoot a short interior video with minimum equipment and lightning. The video clip is available on Youtube.

External links

* [http://www.riksantikvaren.no/Norsk/Fagemner/Bygninger/Kirker/Stavkirker/?module=Files;action=File.getFile;ID=4036 Uvdal Stave Church (Riksantikvaren)]
* [http://www.fortidsminneforeningen.no/eiendom/uvdal.htm Uvdal Stave Church (Fortidsminneforeningen)] in Norwegian]
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EC6UGPmeZfQ Uvdal Stave Church - interior shots (video) on Youtube]
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PBY5OxOx7rQ Uvdal Stave Church in a video about stave churches in Numedal] — in English

References