Hareid Church


Hareid Church is a parish church of the Church of Norway in Hareid Municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. It is located in the village of Hareid on the eastern side of the island of Hareidlandet. It is the church for the Hareid parish which is part of the Søre Sunnmøre prosti in the Diocese of Møre. The white, wooden church was built in a long church style in 1877 by the architects Stokkeland & Schirmer. The church seats about 400 people.

History

The earliest existing historical records of the church date back to 1432, but the original stave church was likely built well before that time (probably in the 12th or 13th century. Over the centuries, records show that the building was enlarged and renovated, reaching a maximum size of about. Not much else is known of the church. On 25 February 1806, the church was struck by lightning and it burned to the ground.
A replacement church was built a little east of the old stave church. It was a timber-framed, octagonal building that was designed by the local parish priest, Peder Thomas Buschmann. This church was started in 1807 but it was not fully completed until 1820. The church site was not suitable for supporting the building and the timber frame began to sag and shift and so after nearly 60 years had gone by it was torn down and replaced. The new church was built in a Romanesque Revival style and it was consecrated on 13 December 1877 by the local parish priest Christian Wisløff.