Norddal Church

{{short description|Church in Møre og Romsdal, Norway}} {{distinguish|text=[[Nordal Church]] in Kinn Municipality, Norway}} {{Infobox church |name = Norddal Church<br />Dale Church |full_name = Norddal kyrkje / Dale kyrkje |former_name = |image = Dale (Norddal) kyrkje.jpg |caption = View of the church |website = |coordinates = {{coord|62.2560024747|7.2370156645|region:NO_type:landmark|display=inline,title}} |location = [[Fjord Municipality]],<br />[[Møre og Romsdal]] |country = [[Norway]] |churchmanship = [[Evangelical Lutheran]] |denomination = [[Church of Norway]] |diocese = [[Diocese of Møre|Møre bispedømme]] |deanery = [[Nordre Sunnmøre prosti]] |parish = Norddal |status = [[Parish church]] |functional_status = Active |founded = 14th century |consecrated = 25 July 1784 |completed = {{Start date and age|p=y|1784}} |closed = |events = |architect = [[Ole Larssen Døving]] |architectural_type = [[Churches in Norway#Floor plan|Octagonal]] |style = |materials = Wood |capacity = 300 |embedded = {{Norwegian Cultural Heritage Site |embed = yes |Type = Church |Status = Automatically protected |ID = 85148 }} }}

'''Norddal Church''' ({{langx|no|Norddal kyrkje}}), also known as '''Dale Church''' ({{langx|no|Dale kyrkje}}), is a [[parish church]] of the [[Church of Norway]] in [[Norddal Municipality]] in [[Møre og Romsdal]] county, [[Norway]]. It is located in the [[Norddal (village)|village of Norddal]], on the south side of the [[Norddalsfjorden]]. It is one of the two churches for the Norddal [[parish]] which is part of the [[Nordre Sunnmøre prosti]] ([[deanery]]) in the [[Diocese of Møre]]. The white, wooden church was built in an [[Churches in Norway#Floor plan|octagonal]] style in 1784 using plans drawn up by a local farmer, [[Ole Larssen Døving]]. The church seats about 300 people.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Norddal kyrkje |url=https://kirkesok.no/kirke/152400101 |access-date=2019-08-17 |publisher=Kirkesøk: Kirkebyggdatabasen}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Oversikt over Nåværende Kirker |url=http://www.kirkekonsulenten.no/kirker.htm |access-date=2019-08-17 |publisher=KirkeKonsulenten.no |language=Norwegian}}</ref>

==History== The earliest existing historical records of the church in Norddal date back to 1432, but the church was already existing on that date. The first church in Norddal was a wooden [[stave church]], possibly built in the 14th century. Not much detail is known about this church building. From 1610 to 1634, a man named Arne Eivindsen was the parish priest for Norddal and during his term as priest, there were two churches in the parish ([[Sylte Church]] on the north side of the fjord and Norddal Church on the south side of the fjord). There was also a chapel at Døving, just north of Sylte. He decided to close the Sylte Church since there was a chapel near there already and to make the Norddal Church the main church for the parish. However, the old Norddal Church was not in good condition, so in the early 1620s, the old Norddal church was torn down and the old [[Sylte Church]] from the village of [[Sylte, Norddal|Sylte]] on the north shore of Norddalsfjorden was disassembled and moved across the fjord to the village of Norddal where it was rebuilt as the new Norddal Church. The newly rebuilt church had a [[cruciform]] layout and the main [[nave]] measured {{convert|22.5x7.5|m}}. On the east end of the nave was a [[Choir (architecture)|choir]] that measured {{convert|8x7.5|m}}. Each of the transverse wings off the nave measured {{convert|6x5.5|m}}. In 1686, a new [[timber-framed]] choir was added to the east end of the church.<ref name="BB">{{Cite book |last=Tafjord |first=Leonhard |title=Norddal Bygdebøker |last2=Kleiva |first2=Ivar |publisher=Norddal kommune |year=1976 |isbn=9788271010348 |volume=IV: Grunn og gror. Kultursoge |location=Valldal}}</ref><ref name="KM">{{Cite web |title=Norddal kyrkjestad |url=http://www.kulturminnesok.no/kulturminnesok/kulturminne/?LOK_ID=85148 |access-date=2019-08-17 |publisher=[[Norwegian Directorate for Cultural Heritage]] |language=Norwegian}}</ref>

In 1782, the old church was torn down and replaced with a new [[log building]]. It was constructed from 1782 to 1784 and it was [[consecrate]]d on 25 July 1784. The new church had an [[Octagonal churches in Norway|octagonal]] layout for the [[nave]]. Four columns in the central part of the nave support the eight-sided roof with a tower on top. The church also had a rectangular [[Choir (architecture)|choir]] to the east and a two-storey [[church porch]] on the west end. Above the center of the nave sits a tower with an [[onion dome]] on top. Norddal Church is prototypical for the [[Octagonal churches in Norway|octagonal churches]] in [[Møre og Romsdal]] county and the [[Nordfjord]] district to the south.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Vreim |first=Halvor |title=Norsk trearkitektur |publisher=Gyldendal |year=1947 |location=Oslo |authorlink=Halvor Vreim}}</ref> The [[altarpiece]] was taken from the previous church, dates from around 1510, and resembles altarpieces produced by [[Bernt Notke]] in [[Lübeck]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Norddal Church |url=http://www.kulturnett.no/moreogromsdal/kulturminner/kulturminne.jsp?id=T11004193&lang=no_NO |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061106071518/http://www.kulturnett.no/moreogromsdal/kulturminner/kulturminne.jsp?id=T11004193&lang=no_NO |archive-date=2006-11-06 |access-date=2013-03-24 |publisher=Kulturnett.no}}</ref> There was no professional architect for the church, instead master builder Ole Larsen Døving, a local farmer, designed the church after returning from a trip to [[Trondheim (city)|Trondheim]]. The master builder probably used the [[Trondhjem Hospital|Trondhjem Hospital Church]] or possibly [[Bakke Church (Trondheim)|Bakke Church]] as models.<ref name="BB" /><ref name="KM" />

The priest [[Johan Christopher Haar Daae]] served at the church from 1804 to 1820.

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=2021-07-30 |website=LokalHistorieWiki.no |language=Norwegian}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Valgkartet |url=http://1814.arkivverket.no/ |access-date=2021-07-30 |website=Valgene i 1814 |publisher=Arkivverket |language=Norwegian |archive-date=24 June 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210624205923/http://1814.arkivverket.no/ |url-status=dead }}</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 |access-date=2021-07-30 |website=Valgene i 1814 |publisher=Arkivverket |language=Norwegian |archive-date=24 June 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210624205923/http://1814.arkivverket.no/#about-elections |url-status=dead }}</ref>

The 40 victims of the 1934 [[Tafjorden]] landslide and subsequent [[tsunami]] are buried in the church cemetery.

==Media gallery== <gallery mode="packed" heights="180px"> Dale (Norddal) kyrkje med kyrkjegard.jpg Norddal kirke.jpg Norddal kirke crop.jpg </gallery>

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

==References== {{reflist}}

[[Category:Fjord Municipality]] [[Category:Churches in Møre og Romsdal]] [[Category:Wooden churches in Norway]] [[Category:Octagonal churches in Norway]] [[Category:18th-century Church of Norway church buildings]] [[Category:Churches completed in 1784]] [[Category:14th-century establishments in Norway]] [[Category:Norwegian election churches]]