Onarheim Church


Onarheim Church is a parish church of the Church of Norway in Tysnes Municipality in Vestland county, Norway. It is located in the village of Onarheim on the southeastern side of the island of Tysnesøya. It is the church for the Onarheim parish which is part of the Sunnhordland prosti in the Diocese of Bjørgvin. The white, wooden church was built in a long church style in 1893 using designs by the architect Karl Askeland from Radøy. The church seats about 500 people.

History

The earliest existing historical records of the church date back to the year 1327. At that time, it was a stone church that had been built some time earlier. In 1686, the church was described as having a stone nave and a wooden choir. It was sold into private ownership in 1723. In 1819–1820, the church was in disrepair, so it was completely renovated and rebuilt. The entire nave was demolished and rebuilt and the choir was heavily renovated. In 1863, the municipality of Tysnes bought back the church from private ownership. As the population of the parish increased, the church eventually became too small, so in 1893, the old church was torn down and a new church was built on the same site. The new church was consecrated on 7 July 1893 by the Bishop Fredrik Waldemar Hvoslef.