Hesby Church

{{short description|Church in Rogaland, Norway}} {{Infobox church |name = Hesby Church |full_name = Hesby kyrkje |former_name = |image = Hesby kyrkje.jpg |caption = View of the church |website = |coordinates = {{coord|59.17622|5.81392|region:NO_type:landmark|display=inline,title}} |location = [[Stavanger Municipality]], [[Rogaland]] |country = [[Norway]] |previous_denomination = [[Catholic Church]] |churchmanship = [[Evangelical Lutheran]] |denomination = [[Church of Norway]] |diocese = [[Diocese of Stavanger|Stavanger bispedømme]] |deanery = [[Tungenes prosti]] |parish = Hesby |status = [[Parish church]] |functional_status = Active |founded = 11th century |consecrated = 11th century |completed = {{circa|1090}} |closed = |events = |architect = |architectural_type = [[Long church]] |style = |materials = Stone |capacity = 230 |embedded = {{Norwegian Cultural Heritage Site |embed = yes |Type = Church |Status = Automatically protected |ID = 84567 }} }}

'''Hesby Church''' ({{langx|no|Hesby kyrkje}}) is a [[parish church]] of the [[Church of Norway]] in the large [[Stavanger Municipality]] in [[Rogaland]] county, [[Norway]]. It is located in the village of [[Hesby]] on the island of [[Finnøy (island)|Finnøy]]. It is the church for the Hesby [[parish]] which is part of the [[Tungenes prosti]] ([[deanery]]) in the [[Diocese of Stavanger]]. The old, stone church was built in a [[long church]] design around the year 1090 using designs by an unknown [[architect]]. The church seats about 230 people.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Hesby kyrkje |url=https://kirkesok.no/kirke/1744 |access-date=2020-10-18 |publisher=Kirkesøk: Kirkebyggdatabasen}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Oversikt over Nåværende Kirker |url=http://www.kirkekonsulenten.no/kirker.htm |access-date=2020-10-18 |publisher=KirkeKonsulenten.no |language=no}}</ref>

==History== The earliest existing historical records of the church date back to the year 1296, but the church was likely built during the early 12th century. Tradition says that the church was founded in the 1090s. Hesby was the seat of chiefs during the 11th century and during the [[Middle Ages]] was the residence of several notable [[Lendmann|Lendmenn]]. The church walls are about {{convert|1|m|adj=on}} thick. The stone church has a rectangular [[nave]] and a narrower, rectangular [[chancel]]. A large tower with a [[steeple]] on the west end of the building was removed during the early 1800s.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Hesby kyrkjestad |url=https://kulturminnesok.no/minne/?queryString=https://data.kulturminne.no/askeladden/lokalitet/84567 |access-date=2020-10-18 |publisher=[[Norwegian Directorate for Cultural Heritage]] |language=no}}</ref>

In 1814, this church served as an [[election church]] ({{langx|no|valgkirke}}).<ref name="lhw">{{Cite web |title=Valgkirkene |url=https://lokalhistoriewiki.no/wiki/Valgkirkene |access-date=2021-01-31 |website=LokalHistorieWiki.no |language=Norwegian}}</ref> Together with more than 300 other parish churches across Norway, it was a polling station for elections to the 1814 [[Norwegian Constituent Assembly]] which wrote the [[Constitution of Norway]]. This was Norway's first national elections. Each [[prestegjeld|church 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 at [[Eidsvoll Manor]] later that year.<ref name="lhw" /><ref>{{Cite web |title=Om valgene |url=http://1814.arkivverket.no/#about-elections |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210624205923/http://1814.arkivverket.no/#about-elections |archive-date=24 June 2021 |access-date=2021-01-31 |website=Valgene i 1814 |publisher=Arkivverket |language=Norwegian}}</ref>

==See also== *[[List of churches in Rogaland]]

==References== {{reflist}}

[[Category:Churches in Stavanger]] [[Category:Stone churches in Norway]] [[Category:11th-century churches in Norway]] [[Category:Buildings and structures completed in 1090]] [[Category:Churches completed in the 1090s]] [[Category:11th-century establishments in Norway]] [[Category:Norwegian election churches]]